Beijing threatens retaliation against Trump's threat of 50% additional tariffs

A day before the U.S.'s so-called reciprocal tariffs take effect, Washington and Beijing look to be engaged in a game of chicken, each vowing to retaliate without backing down.

China vows further retaliation if the U.S. goes ahead with an additional tariff.

Moon Hye-ryeon explains.

China is threatening further retaliation against the United States should they impose the additional tariff promised by U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a statement from Beijing's Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday said that it would take countermeasures to "safeguard its own rights and interests" in response to Trump's social media post, which said Washington could impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Beijing.

The statement called the move a "mistake on top of a mistake".

Previously, China announced a 34 percent tariff on American goods in response to U.S. levies – which, in turn, led to Trump's threat of additional tariffs unless Beijing withdraws these retaliatory tariffs.

The escalation of the trade war between the two countries brings the total rate to be levied on Chinese imports to 104 percent.

This is expected to have a staggering impact, as China was the second-largest trading partner with the U.S. last year.

Trump also warned that unless Beijing accepts his demands, its negotiations with the U.S. will come to a standstill.

Meanwhile, negotiations with other countries are due to begin immediately.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 countries reached out for talks, while Trump said leaders from Asia and Europe called him over the weekend as well as Japan's Prime Minister on Monday.

"We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals. And in certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs. They'll be fair deals."

This marks a shift from earlier statements, which stated there would be no negotiations for the time being.

During interviews with various media outlets, White House officials said that such deals would need to be "really great" for American manufacturing and farmers – and countries would need to do more than just lowering their tariffs for relief.

Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.