China Hits Back with Major Tariff Hike on U.S. Goods as Trade Tensions Escalate

Tensions in the U.S.-China trade war escalated Wednesday as China announced a steep tariff hike on American imports, raising rates from 34% to 84%. The increase, revealed by China’s customs agency, is set to take effect on April 10 and marks the latest response to President Trump’s tariff regime.

In its official statement, China blasted the U.S. administration’s approach as “a mistake on top of a mistake,” pushing back firmly on Trump’s continued economic pressure. The president, meanwhile, made no move to reverse course.

“For years, we’ve been ripped off and taken advantage of by China and others,” Trump said. “But by China—that’s the big one.”

The announcement triggered immediate ripple effects in global markets. Stock indexes across Asia and Europe dropped sharply, and U.S. futures signaled another day of broad declines.

The trade tensions are also starting to impact consumers. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC that the e-commerce giant is working to keep prices low but warned that shoppers should expect some cost increases. “Many of our third-party sellers will likely pass those costs on to customers,” said Jassy, noting that Amazon has already made strategic inventory buys to soften the blow.

Jassy added that so far, the company hasn’t seen any significant shift in customer behavior, though the longer the dispute drags on, the harder it may be to avoid price hikes.

While President Trump has temporarily paused his most recent round of tariffs for 90 days for all countries except China, the diplomatic and economic standoff shows no signs of easing.

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