US: Tariff Goes Up To 245% For China, Says White House | Trump's Fresh Salvo

In a sharp escalation in the trade tariff conflict between the United States and China, President Donald Trump's administration on late Tuesday announced a sweeping new tariff of up to 245 percent on Chinese imports. The drastic decision came in response to Beijing’s recent export restrictions and retaliatory tariffs.

“China now faces up to a 245% tariff on imports to the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions,” the White House said in line with Trump’s ongoing “America First Trade Policy.”

The statement issued by the White House condemned China for deliberately restricting exports of vital high-tech materials, including gallium, germanium, and antimony - elements critical for military, aerospace, and semiconductor industries- alongside six heavy rare earth metals and rare earth magnets.

“A few months ago, China banned exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications,” the statement said.

“Just this week, China suspended exports of six heavy rare earth metals, as well as rare earth magnets, in order to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world

While a fact sheet released by the White House mentions the new rate of tariffs on imports, netizens on social media questioned whether it was actually implemented by the Trump administration or it was just a typo.

US-China trade war

In a tit-for-tat escalation, China raised its tariffs on US goods to 125% last Friday. That move came shortly after President Trump increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, while pausing additional tariffs on goods from other countries for 90 days.

Adding to the basic 10 percent tariff, during April 2 Liberation Day tariff rollouts, President Trump announced a 34 percent additional tariff on Chinese imports.

Minutes after the announcement, citing a "national emergency" which has stemmed from security concerns due to persistent trade deficits, the White House imposed an additional "baseline" 10 percent tariff on all countries which took China's tariff rate to 54 percent.

The further escalation came as Trump threatened to impose 50 percent additional tariffs on Chinese imports unless Beijing withdraws its retaliatory tariffs by April 8, 2025 which took the total tariff sum to 104 percent. 

Last week, the tariff rate for China jumped to 125 per cent, but that did not include a 20 per cent tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production. On last Thursday, the United States has escalated its tariff on Chinese imports to 145 per cent further igniting the trade war between the two countries.

Trump's Tariff Spree

Right after assuming the office for his second tenure as the US president, Trump said that he could put 25 percent trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on February. For products from China, Trump announced a levy of 60 percent levy.

In his inaugural address, Trump pledged that tariffs would be imposed and said foreign countries would be paying the trade penalties, even though those taxes are currently paid by domestic importers and often passed along to consumers.

However, a day after pausing planned tariffs for at least a month for Mexico, US President Donald Trump on February 4 agreed to do the same with Canada after a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, Trump's tariffs against China are still slated to go into effect on Tuesday.

On February 3, Trump paused the tariffs it imposed on Mexico. In a tweet, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, President of Mexico in her conversation with USA President Donald Trump said that the tariffs have been paused for a month. 

Later, he threatened the European Union with a 200 percent retaliatory tariff on European wine, champagne, and spirits if the European Union went forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey. The European tariff was expected to go into effect on April 1.

Trump has also threatened Canada with new tariffs targeting Canadian lumber and dairy products. Citing Canada's roughly 250% tariff on US dairy exports to the country, President Trump said in an Oval Office address, "Canada has been ripping us off for years on lumber and on dairy products," CNN reported.

Moreover, he doubled his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum products imported from Canada to 50 percent. The move came in response to Ontario's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on its electricity exports to the United States.

More recently, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on imports from countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. Taking it to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced that Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the US and countries purchasing oil from it will be forced to pay the tariff on all their trade to the US starting April 2.