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China to impose 34% retaliatory tariff on all goods imported from the U.S.

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Chinese and U.S. flags flutter near The Bund, before U.S. trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019.

Aly Song | Reuters

China’s finance ministry on Friday said it will impose a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting on April 10, following duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this week.

“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and resolve trade differences through consultation in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” the ministry said, according to a Google translation.

It further criticized Washington’s decision to impose 34% of additional reciprocal levies on China — bringing total U.S. tariffs against the country to 54% — as “inconsistent with international trade rules” and “seriously” undermining Chinese interests, as well as endangering “global economic development and the stability of the production and supply chain,” according to a Google-translated report from Chinese state news outlet Xinhua.

Separately, China also added 11 U.S. firms to the “unreliable entities list” that the Beijing administration says have violated market rules or contractual commitments. China’s ministry of commerce also added 16 U.S. entities to its export control list and said it would implement export controls on seven types of rare-earth related items, including samarium, gadolinium and terbium.

CNBC has reached out to the White House for comment.

Beijing, which also entertained a tenuous trade relationship with Washington under Trump’s first term, had warned that it would take “resolute counter-measures” to safeguard its own interests after the White House disclosed its latest sweeping tariffs on Wednesday.

Other U.S. trading partners had held off from announcing retaliatory tariffs amid hopes of further negotiations, with the European Union nevertheless voicing a readiness to respond.

The mutual U.S.-China levies are set to impact a trade relationship worth $582.4 billion in goods in 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Analysts expect the U.S.’ protectionist trade policies to steer China toward other trading partners and see it implement further stimulus measures in an effort to galvanize the economy. China has been battling a property crisis and weak consumer and business sentiment since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

China’s retaliatory tariffs announced Friday exacerbated declines in global markets which had already been thrust into turmoil by fears of inflationary, recessionary and global economic growth risks following the White House’s tariffs.

Mohamed Aly El-Erian, chief economic advisor for Allianz SE. 

El-Erian says U.S. recession risks are now ‘uncomfortably high’

Economics

The strange history of the tribe courted by Donald Trump

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For almost a century and a half, the federal government denied the Lumbee, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi, recognition. Now, nearly everyone in Washington is trying to give it to them. “I love the Lumbee tribe,” President Donald Trump said on his third full day in office, as he signed a memorandum ordering the secretary of the interior to, within 90 days, submit a plan to help the Lumbee gain full federal recognition. The president isn’t the only one showing the Lumbee love. Last October, while campaigning on behalf of Kamala Harris in North Carolina, Bill Clinton made a swing through Pembroke, the seat of the tribal government. Donald Trump junior was nearby holding a rally filled with “Lumbees for Trump” signs. During the campaign both presidential candidates called John Lowery, the Lumbee tribal chairman, to promise full federal recognition. Also last year, the House of Representatives passed the Lumbee Fairness Act, which would extend recognition to the tribe, 311 to 96, only to see it stall in the Senate.

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Retail sales May 2025:

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Shoppers try on shoes at a Footlocker store in New York City, U.S., May 16, 2025.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

Consumers spending pulled back sharply in May, weighed by declining gas sales and a looming unease over where the economy is headed, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Retail sales declined 0.9%, even more than the 0.6% drop expected from the Dow Jones consensus, according to numbers adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. The decline followed a 0.1% loss in April and came at a time of unease over tariffs and geopolitical tensions.

Excluding autos, sales fell 0.3%, also worse than the estimate for a gain of 0.1%.

However, excluding a series of items such as auto dealers, building materials suppliers, gas stations and others, sales increased 0.4%. That reading, known as the control group, is what the department uses when calculating gross domestic product.

Building materials and garden stores saw sales fall 2.7%, while sliding energy prices pushed gasoline station receipts down 2%. Motor vehicles and parts retailers were off 3.5%, while bars and restaurants saw sales declined 0.9%.

On the plus side, miscellaneous retailers gained 2.9% while online sales rose 0.9% and furniture stores increased sales by 1.2%.

Stock market futures held negative after the release while Treasury yields also fell.

The pullback in retail sales came despite surveys showing that consumer sentiment actually increased in May, though compared to levels that had been falling through the year. The ongoing trade war ignited by President Donald Trump’s tariffs had dented consumer and business optimism, though an easing in some of the rhetoric amid a 90-day negotiating period has led to better readings.

GDP declined at a 0.2% annualized pace in the first quarter but is projected to rebound. Second-quarter growth heading into the retail sales release was pegged at 3.8%, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow tracker of rolling data. The gauge will be updated later Tuesday.

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Economics

Protests against a regal presidency have been notably peaceful

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There is no need to send in the troops

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