China-U.S. trade war heats up with Beijing's tariffs to take effect

Trade tensions escalate as Beijing retaliates against U.S. tariffs, impacting agricultural goods and potentially hindering China's economy.

Trade tensions between the world's two leading economies are set to escalate on Monday (March 10, 2025), as Beijing begins levying tariffs on certain U.S. agricultural goods in retaliation for President Donald Trump's latest hike on Chinese imports.

Since returning to the Oval Office in January, Mr. Trump has unleashed a barrage of tariffs on major U.S. trading partners, including China, Canada and Mexico, citing their failure to stop illegal immigration and flows of deadly fentanyl.

After imposing a blanket 10% tariff on all Chinese goods in early February, Mr. Trump hiked the rate to 20% last week.

Beijing reacted quickly, its Finance Ministry accusing Washington of "undermining" the multilateral trading system and announcing fresh measures of its own.

The moves will see fresh tariffs of 10 and 15 percent imposed on several U.S. farm products, starting on Monday.

Chicken, wheat, corn and cotton from the United States will now be subject to the higher charge while soybeans, sorghum, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruit, vegetables and dairy will face the slightly lower rate.

Analysts say Beijing's retaliatory tariffs are designed to hurt Mr. Trump's voter base while remaining restrained enough to allow room to hash out a trade deal.