China: Market Rejects Trump’s Tariffs, Calls for Equal Consultations

China said Saturday that “the market has spoken” by rejecting the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, calling on Washington to engage in “equal consultations,” following a sharp reaction in global markets.

According to CNBC, several Chinese trade associations in various sectors, from healthcare and textiles to electronics, issued statements calling for a unified stance to explore alternative markets, warning that US tariffs could exacerbate inflation in the United States.

“The market has spoken,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun posted on Facebook this morning, along with an image showing a sharp decline in US market indices on Friday.

President Trump imposed an additional 34% tariff on Chinese goods, as part of a package of heavy tariffs targeting most of the United States’ trading partners, bringing the total tariffs imposed on China this year to 54%. Trump also closed a loophole that allowed low-value packages from China to be exempt from tariffs, a move aimed at closing all trade exemptions.

Beijing responded on Friday with sweeping retaliatory measures, including imposing an additional 34% tariff on all US goods and restrictions on the export of some rare earths, further escalating tensions in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Global markets suffered heavy losses following the Chinese response and Trump’s statements confirming that he would not reverse his decisions, extending the sharp decline that began earlier in the week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index recorded a 9% weekly decline, its biggest loss since the COVID-19 pandemic.