(NewsNation) — Beijing has vowed to “fight to the end” after President Donald Trump threatened China with an additional 50% tariff if the East Asian country doesn’t abandon its retaliatory 34% tariff set to hit Thursday.
If Trump adds a 50% tariff to the previously announced 34% tariff set to take effect later this week, in addition to the standing 20% tariff, the total amount comes to 104%.
China’s Ministry of Commerce called Trump’s latest ultimatum a “mistake on top of a mistake.” Beijing said the tariff exposes the United States’ “blackmailing nature” and that China will never accept the massive levies.
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But Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday he’s hopeful Chinese President Xi Jinping will change his mind.
“I have a great relationship with President Xi. I hope it’s going to stay that way,” Trump said. “I have great respect for China, but they can’t do this.”
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While China is not at the negotiating table, several countries are taking a seat.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday tried to strike a deal with Washington, offering to eliminate the trade deficit and trade barriers with the U.S.
Trump has directed his treasury secretary to begin working with Japan and to lead negotiations with the U.S. trade representative.
And the European Union on Monday said it is ready to negotiate a zero-for-zero tariff resolution on industrial goods, though Trump said Monday that offer is not good enough.
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Trump has remained undeterred by a panicking stock market. Instead, Trump has likened his “Liberation Day” tariffs to medicine needed to heal the country’s economy.
“It’s what is expected. The patient was very sick. The economy had a lot of problems,” he said on Thursday. “It was a sick patient. It went through an operation.”
Tuesday futures for all three major U.S. indices are in the green — a positive sign after a volatile start to the work week on Wall Street, which saw steep drops and seesawing in the stock market.
Musk reportedly urging against Trump’s tariffs
Elon Musk, billionaire owner of Tesla and a top Trump adviser, has long opposed tariffs.
He has reportedly made direct appeals to Trump to reverse his decision, two sources told the Washington Post.
The outlet reports that Musk made personal appeals to Trump over the weekend. The attempted intervention, confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on a condition of anonymity, has not brought success so far.
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Musk also sparred on social media with one of Trump’s lead advisers on trade, Peter Navarro. Musk on Saturday criticized Navarro’s academic qualifications in a social media post: “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.”
Navarro responded to the message during a Sunday interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Look, Elon, when he’s in his DOGE lane, he’s great. But we understand what’s going on here. We just have to understand. Elon sells cars,” Navarro said. “And he’s simply protecting his own interests as any businessperson would do.”
