If neither side blinks and Trump sticks to his plans, total new levies could climb to 104 per cent this year on Chinese goods imported into the United States, escalating a trade war that has already spurred the biggest market losses since the pandemic.
"The US side's threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side's blackmailing nature," China's commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end."
Trump said he would impose the additional 50 per cent duty on US imports from China on Wednesday if Beijing did not withdraw the 34 per cent tariffs it had imposed on US products last week.
Those Chinese tariffs, in turn, had come in response to 34 per cent "reciprocal" duties announced by Trump.
The average US tariff on Chinese goods is already set to climb to 76 per cent following Trump's levies last week, which hit China with a tariff of 34 per cent, in addition to 20 per cent he previously imposed this year.
The moves have led economists to question whether the White House stands to gain much from hiking rates further.
"Since China already faces a tariff rate in excess of 60 per cent, it doesn't matter if it goes up by 50 per cent or 500 per cent," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
"What China can do is stop US farming purchases, match US tariffs and expand its export controls across the periodic table of chemical elements."
