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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the dramatic tariff rise during a news conference on Tuesday, April 8. The new 104% duty will officially begin at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9.
China's tariff rate was raised to a combined 54% when Trump announced his "liberation day" tariffs on Wednesday, April 2. A 34% additional tariff was added to Trump's pre-existing 20% duty on Chinese products.
After China placed a 34% retaliatory tariff on US goods on Sunday, April 6, Trump threatened the additional 50% tariff if China didn't reverse course.
"Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!" Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, April 7. "Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately."
China has vowed to fight back against Trump's tariff threats, calling them a "groundless and a typical unilateral bullying" tactic.
"The countermeasures China has taken are to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests and maintain the normal international trade order, which is completely legitimate," a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said in a translated statement. "The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the blackmail nature of the US."
Stocks rallied early on April 8 after three straight days of massive losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 1,450 points at its morning peak.
That momentum collapsed in the afternoon on reports of the 104% Chinese tariff. By the time trading closed for the day, the Dow Jones ended down about 320 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped around 335 points and the S&P 500 fell by nearly 80 points.
Leavitt tried to calm markets by claiming that nearly 70 countries have tried to engage in negotiations with the US, including Japan and South Korea.
"President Trump has a spine of steel," said Leavitt. "He will not break and America will not break under his leadership. He is guided by a firm belief that America must be able to produce essential goods for our own people and export them to the rest of the world."
Trump also hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on April 7 – the first head-of-state visit since Trump's sweeping tariff announcement. Leavitt said Netanyahu agreed to "immediately eliminate America's trade deficit with Israel and remove their trade barriers."
Markets briefly bounced soon after trading opened on April 7 after a social media post falsely claimed Trump was considering a 90-day pause on the tariffs. The White House denied the rumor and stocks tumbled again.
Trump's "liberation day" announcement ended up wiping out about $6.6 trillion from US equity markets in two days. The huge sell-off triggered the worst trading day for Big Tech since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Markets plummeted despite stronger-than-expected jobs numbers. The US added 228,000 nonfarm payrolls in March, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Adding to the pressure, Goldman Sachs raised the odds of a US recession to 45% on April 6 – the third elevation since the start of March.
"If President Trump does not negotiate and the tariff war escalates, a recession will be imminent," the bank said. "If he compromises, it is less likely."
JPMorgan has issued similar warnings and its recession odds have risen to 60%.
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