China-US Graphic: GT
China on Friday announced countermeasures against the US' so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on its trading partners including China, with moves including imposing additional 34-percent tariffs on all products imported from the US and filing a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning the US "reciprocal tariffs."
China's swift combination of countermeasures against the US' so-called "reciprocal tariffs" is a legitimate and reasonable response to the US' unilateral bullying actions that violate international trade rules, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.
More countermeasures are expected from other countries and regions against the US reciprocal tariffs. All parties should work together to maintain a rules-based trade environment and collectively respond to the US' arbitrary actions undermining WTO trade rules, Huo Jianguo, a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.
China will impose an additional 34-percent tariffs on all US-origin goods, based on the current applicable tariff rates, starting from April 10, following the US' imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" against Chinese imports to the US on Wednesday US time, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced on Friday.
The additional tariffs will take effect on April 10. Current bonded and tax reduction policies will remain unchanged, and the new tariffs will not be subject to exemptions, the announcement stated.
Goods that are shipped from their place of departure before April 10, 2025 and imported between April 10, 2025 and May 13, 2025 will not be subject to the additional tariffs specified in the announcement.
Also on Friday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) announced that China has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the US' imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" on its trading partners including China, according to a MOFCOM notice published on its website.
The US imposition of so-called "reciprocal tariffs" seriously violates WTO rules, severely harms the legitimate rights and interests of WTO members, and significantly undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order. This is a typical example of unilateral bullying that jeopardizes the stability of the global economic and trade order. China firmly opposes this, MOFCOM noted in the statement.
Multi-faceted moves
In addition to the above-mentioned countermeasures against the US' "reciprocal tariffs," Chinese authorities also rolled out a raft of measures involving US entities or US-related trade, as well as export control measures.
The MOFCOM on Friday announced it has added 11 US companies, including American manufacturer of drones Skydio, to the unreliable entity list, according to an official statement.
In recent years, companies including Skydio and BRINC Drones have disregarded China's strong opposition and engaged in so-called military technology cooperation with the island of Taiwan, seriously undermining China's national sovereignty, security, and development interests. Based on relevant laws, China has held these companies legally accountable for their unlawful actions.
The MOFCOM also announced on Friday that it has added 16 US companies, including High Point Aerotechnologies, Universal Logistics Holdings, and Source Intelligence, to its export control list. The export of dual-use items to these 16 US entities is prohibited, and any ongoing related export activities must be immediately halted, according to the announcement.
In addition, the MOFCOM on Friday launched an anti-dumping investigation into imported medical CT tubes from the US and India, per Xinhua. The anti-dumping investigation was initiated at the request of the domestic industry, and the products under investigation are certain ball bearing medical CT tubes, the MOFCOM said.
The MOFCOM has also announced an industrial competitiveness investigation into the import of medical CT ball tubes. This marks MOFCOM's first industry competitiveness investigation initiated at the request of a domestic industry.
The MOFCOM and the General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Friday to implement export controls on certain medium and heavy rare earth-related items. In accordance with the country's Export Control Law and other relevant laws and regulations, the MOFCOM, together with the GAC, published an announcement on Friday regarding the implementation of export control measures on seven categories of medium and heavy rare earth-related items, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium.
Meanwhile, the GAC suspended import qualifications of six US enterprises on Friday, to protect Chinese consumers' health and ensure the safety of the country's livestock industry.
The suspensions include one US enterprise involved in sorghum exports to China, three enterprises dealing with poultry meat and bone meal, and two enterprises exporting poultry products.
Recently, Chinese customs detected excessive levels of zearalenone and total mold count in imported US sorghum, as well as Salmonella in imported US poultry meat and bone meal, according to a statement on the website of the General Administration of Customs.
To safeguard public health and livestock production safety, and in accordance with relevant Chinese laws, and WTO's relevant regulations, the Chinese authority has decided to suspend the Sorghum import qualification of the US company C&D (USA) INC, and poultry meat and bone meal import qualification of companies including American Proteins, Inc, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc and DARLING INGREDIENTS INC.
Also, in a separate notice, the Chinese customs said it has repeatedly detected furazolidone, a prohibited drug under Chinese law, in imported US poultry products. Therefore, it has decided to suspend the import of poultry products of US companies including Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc and Coastal Processing, LLC, to China.
'Not US first, but US alone'; move to backfire
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent minimum baseline tariff and higher rates on certain trading partners, including 34 percent on China.
The US' so-called "reciprocal" tariffs
triggered immediate backlash after the announcement on Wednesday, with its allies including the EU, Canada and Japan expressed opposition.
The so-called "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the US violate international trade rules, which are based on US domestic laws rather than widely accepted international trade regulations. This approach completely disregards the interests of other countries and is typical unilateral bullying, focusing solely on the interests of the US, Gao noted.
"This is not America first; this is America alone," Hildegard Müller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), said in a note sent to the Global Times on Thursday.
The extensive new reciprocal US tariffs against large parts of the world announced today represent the US' departure from the rules-based global trading order - and thus a departure from the foundation for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world, Müller said.
"The US' move is tantamount to detonating a tariff bomb on global trade, destroying the foundations and rules of international commerce, while at the same time, this action will not make the US greater or wealthier. Instead, it will fuel inflation and could even accelerate an economic recession in the US," Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times.
Citing the issue of fentanyl as a pretext, the new US administration has already imposed a combined of 20 percent tariffs on Chinese imports this year, adding further strains in their bilateral relationship.
"Mutual benefit and win-win cooperation have always been the fundamental perspective of China and the essence of China-US economic and trade relations. By adopting a victim mentality and using national security threats as a pretext, the US has continuously blocked mutually beneficial trade and investment ties between China and the US, gradually eroding the foundation of their economic cooperation," Li said.
The right way for the two countries to engage and resolve economic and trade issues is through equal dialogue and consultation, based on mutual respect and benefit - not through zero-sum thinking, trade bullying, or coercion, Li said.
