Trade war: China to retaliate with more tariffs on US goods from April 10

China on Friday escalated its trade war with the United States, announcing a series of retaliatory measures, including steep tariffs and export controls on critical materials.

The Chinese Finance Ministry has said that starting April 10, Beijing will impose additional tariffs of 34% on all US goods, adding fuel to the already fiery trade war.

This comes after the South Asian country had Thursday urged the US to immediately cancel its latest tariffs and vowed countermeasures to safeguard its own interests. Beijing's tariffs are a direct response to Trump's recent trade actions, including reciprocal tariffs at 34% on top of the 20% he previously imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54%. It is close to the 60% figure that Trump had threatened during US election campaigning. Interestingly, no other country comes close to matching China's annual sales of more than $400 billion in goods to the States every year.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry has said it is adding 16 US entities to its export control list, further restricting their access to Chinese markets and technologies.

Additionally, 11 American firms have been placed on China’s ‘unreliable entity’ list, according to state broadcaster CCTV. China is also imposing export controls on rare earth elements, a crucial component for high-tech industries. These include samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium.

These elements are essential for manufacturing semiconductors, electric vehicles, and military equipment.

"The purpose of the Chinese government's implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

The ongoing tit-for-tat measures have fueled global market uncertainty, with investors bracing for further economic disruptions. Indian pharmaceutical stocks tumbled on Friday amid broader sell-offs across Asia. In the US and Europe, stock index futures dipped, the dollar weakened, and the 10-year US Treasury yield dropped below 4% as investors braced for potential economic shocks.

The turmoil follows a brutal session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 plunged nearly 5%, erasing $2.5 trillion in market value—the worst day since the COVID-19 pandemic.