• Economics
• United States

April 7, 2025, 4:13 PM View Comments ()

U.S. President Donald Trump is not backing down from his explosive tariffs. The sweeping duties, announced last Wednesday, have ignited fears of a global recession, as countries race to either negotiate with or retaliate against Washington and stock markets seesaw between quick surges and record-breaking lows.

On Monday, Trump threatened to take his trade war to yet new heights, writing on Truth Social that he will put additional 50 percent tariffs on China if Beijing does not remove its recently announced 34 percent retaliatory duties on the United States by Tuesday. He also threatened to terminate all requested talks with China. If Trump’s latest threat is enacted, it could bring the total average tariff on Chinese goods entering the United States to a whopping 126 percent.

Beijing declared the 34 percent countermeasure last Friday, which will go into effect on April 10 and be imposed on all U.S. imports, without carve-outs for certain products such as energy, as the White House has done.

Not all foreign leaders have taken the hard-and-fast approach. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered the United States “zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods” in a video post on Monday. “Europe is always ready for a good deal, so we keep it on the table,” she said. Several U.S. Republican lawmakers have urged Trump to seize the opportunity. “At some point, you have to take YES for an answer,” Sen. Ron Johnson posted on X.

Read more in today’s World Brief: Trump’s ‘Reciprocal Tariffs’ Roil Global Markets.