Trump's tariffs

China raises US tariffs to 125 percent

Anna Sjögren

Updated 13.56 | Published 10.05

China raises its tariffs against the US to 125 percent.

The announcement comes after the US's shock increase against China.

The tariff conflict between the superpowers is increasingly resembling a ping-pong match.

On Friday morning, the announcement came that China was raising its tariffs against the t US. From 84 to 125 percent.

China's increase comes as a response to the US announcement on Thursday. First, the White House announced that goods from China would be subject to 125 percent tariffs. Later that same day, they were increased to 145 percent.

China's finance minister calls the US's actions bullying and blackmail. At the same time, the country is signaling that it will not raise its tariffs any further after this, writes Bloomberg.

After the Chinese announcement, the Stockholm Stock Exchange fell slightly. The OMXS30 index is down 1.4 percent.

Trump has decided on a 90-day tariff break for all countries except China. However, a minimum tariff of 10 percent will still be imposed on the countries that have received increases.

Whether for governments, private individuals or companies, it is easy to keep up with the statements that come daily from Trump and the White House – and other countries' responses to them.

Trump's tariffs are shaking the world economy. Genre image. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix

During the morning, Benjamin Dousa (M), Minister of International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, announced that the government has opened its customs hotline.

- Companies will now be able to turn to the authority to receive support and advice on issues regarding US tariffs and possible countermeasures from Europe, Dousa said at the press conference.

The customs hotline will consist of a group of experts such as lawyers specializing in customs issues and economists with specific knowledge of the US and the EU. 

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The tariff crisis  Voices about tariffs
Analysis: China has weapons that are more powerful than tariffs

China is sitting on a weapon that is more powerful in the escalating trade war with the US than increased tariffs, writes SvD's Johan Carlström in an analysis. It concerns China's large holdings of US government bonds.

If China were to dump its holdings, the result would be that bond yields would skyrocket, making it more expensive for the US to borrow money and weakening the dollar further. But if the bond weapon is fired, it would affect not only the US but also the rest of the world – including China, explains Carlström.

In DN, Marianne Björklund highlights another powerful weapon that China has at its disposal – the country's deposits of rare earth metals. She writes that Beijing has already introduced export restrictions and that exports could eventually be stopped completely. She also points out that China has the advantage of being a dictatorship.

“There are no elections here that can punish political leaders if unemployment rises and companies go bankrupt,” she writes.

Analysis: The lesson for Europe is that Trump backs down when pressured

Whatever the White House claims, it was not foreign leaders “kissing the arse” of Donald Trump that made him back down from his extensive tariff package. That’s what Alexander Hurst writes in The Guardian.

“It was because investors and money around the world fled everything that had to do with the US,” he writes, noting that Europe tends to overestimate the power of the US and underestimate its own ability to pressure its erratic ally.

“Increasing inflation is one thing, but shifting the burden onto the American people is something else entirely, and a war that Trump – just like his predecessors – simply cannot win,” writes Karl Matchett in The Independent.