China imposes 84% tariffs on US as leaders vow to hit back
President Donald Trump said countries were attempting to negotiate, while China imposed 84% tariffs on U.S. imports.
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump told Americans Wednesday to “BE COOL!” and his administration downplayed an escalating trade war as China and the European Union responded to his steep tariffs with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before! Trump said in a post on his social media network Truth Social. He later added, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”
Trump’s comments came after China hit back at Trump’s 104% tariffs on Chinese imports, which went into effect Wednesday, with 84% tariffs on U.S. exports. Later, the EU said it would impose 25% tariffs on a range of U.S. exports in a first round of countermeasures to respond to Trump’s universal 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The tit-for-tat levies heightened concerns from business leaders and economists about a possible recession. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the impact of China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports and said a trade war between the U.S. and Beijing is “a loser for them.”
“They are the surplus country. Their exports to the U.S. are five times our exports to China so they can raise their tariffs, but so what?” Bessent said in a Wednesday morning interview on Fox News.
Bessent called it “unfortunate” China does not want to negotiate trade policy with the U.S. “because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system.”
In subsequent remarks to the American Bankers Association, Bessent suggested the U.S. and other allies could eventually approach China about a potential trade deal, but only after the Trump administration first reaches agreements with Japan, South Korea and other countries on tariffs.
“At the end of the day, we can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies – and then we can approach China as a group,” Bessent said.
Bessent, defending tariffs, says it’s ‘Main Street’s turn’
China is not among the 70 countries that have reached out to the U.S. about making a trade deal following Trump’s universal tariffs announced last week. The full universal tariffs, including the levies on China, kicked in Wednesday.
The Trump administration has already started negotiations with South Korea and Japan. Bessent said administration is also meeting with a delegation from Vietnam.
Bessent warned that any country that aligns itself with China over the U.S. on trade would be making a serious mistake. “That would be cutting your own throat,” he said.
Trump has argued that higher tariffs ‒ which seek to roll back decades of globalization ‒ are critical to rejuvenate America’s declining domestic manufacturing sectors and create a level playing field with other countries, led by China, that impose tariffs on U.S. exports.
Speaking to the bankers group, Bessent ‒ a billionaire who made his fortune as a hedge fund manager and investor ‒ defended Trump’s economic policies by arguing “it’s Main Street’s turn” to see economic growth.
“For the last four years, basically since I began my career in Wall Street, Wall Street has grown wealthier than ever before, and it has continued to grow and do well,” Bessent said. “But for the next four years, the Trump agenda is focused on Main Street.”
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.