Investing.com -- The United States will proceed with a sweeping 104% tariff on Chinese imports starting at 12:01 a.m. on April 9, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed today.
This is likely to further escalate a trade battle that has already rattled financial markets and drawn a sharp rebuke from Beijing.
The S&P 500 trimmed its intraday gain to just 1% and hit a session low as investors reassessed the deepening trade conflict and its potential economic fallout.
The move follows a volatile stretch in U.S.-China relations after President Trump warned that he would impose an additional 50% duty on Chinese goods if Beijing did not roll back the 34% retaliatory tariffs it enacted in response to earlier U.S. measures.
Those Chinese tariffs came after Trump imposed a 34% "reciprocal" duty on a wide range of Chinese imports. China, on the other hand, has shown no signs of backing down.
"Trump's threat was a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying," Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said.
"We have stressed more than once that pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage with us. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with President Trump in Florida on Sunday to encourage a shift in messaging toward deal-making with trade partners, Politico reported. The goal, according to the report, was to reassure markets that there is a broader strategy behind the tariff push.
Trump said the administration would begin trade negotiations with Japan, a key U.S. ally in Asia, and officials added that dozens of other countries have reached out in hopes of avoiding tariffs of up to 50% set to take effect on Wednesday.