Washington - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
China vowed to "fight to the end" as it intervened to stabilize stock markets following a sharp decline.
White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt announced that US President Donald Trump will announce an additional 84% tariff on all imports from China on Wednesday.
This will raise the tariff on Chinese goods to a minimum of 104%, marking an unprecedented escalation in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
In a statement to reporters, Levitt said, "Countries that choose to retaliate and insist on exacerbating their unfair policies against American workers, like China, are making a clear strategic mistake." She added, "The Chinese want to make a deal, but they don't know how to do it."
On his Truth Social website, Trump posted a nearly identical transcript on Tuesday of what Levitt had said about the Chinese's desire to make a deal but their lack of knowledge about how to do it. Earlier on Tuesday, China responded with a firm statement affirming that it would "fight to the end" in response to Trump's threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on all Chinese products. This escalation comes at a time when trade relations between the world's two largest economies are experiencing increasing tension, amid the absence of real indications of a resumption of negotiations between the two sides. According to what was published by the European news network in Brussels, Euronews, which added, "US President Donald Trump said that Brussels' offer to eliminate tariffs "zero for zero" was not sufficient, but he expressed his willingness to reach an agreement provided that the European Union works to reduce the trade deficit in goods.
The US President stressed that the European Union must commit to purchasing $350 billion in American energy to be exempt from the tariffs he imposed. Trump also rejected Brussels' proposal to impose "zero for zero" tariffs on cars and industrial goods.
Trump's statements, made during a press conference at the White House, came in response to what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier today. She indicated that the European Union had proposed eliminating tariffs on American cars and industrial goods if Trump took a similar step.
When a reporter asked him if the European offer was sufficient to change his position, Trump replied: "No, it is not."
He added: "We have a $350 billion trade deficit with the European Union, and that will be eliminated quickly."