Just hours after China hit back at the United States with 84% tariffs on all American goods, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday (April 9) slammed Beijing's retaliatory tariffs as a "loser" move. He said China is the "worst offenders in the international trading system," and therefore does not want to negotiate.

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Speaking to FOX Business Bessent said, "I think it’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system."

“They have the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world, and I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them," he further said.

However, Bessent expressed confidence in the issue being resolved and said both the leaders, Trump and Xi Jinping, share a healthy relationship, "I am confident that this will be resolved at the highest level."

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Also Read: Top Chinese leaders to meet to discuss support measures amid trade war with US – Report

"A very good start would be for them to make a gesture on the precursor fentanyl, because distributing drugs in China is punishable by death. Why don’t they apply the same standards to the people who are exporting these chemicals to the US?", he further said.

China imposes retaliatory tariffs

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China's finance ministry on Wednesday said it would impose 84 per cent tariff on US goods from Thursday (April 10). This is a sharp increase from the previously declared 34 per cent, after the US President Donald Trump imposed "reciprocal tariffs" on April 2.

It further stressed that they had added 12 US entities to the export control list and 6 US entities to the 'unreliable entity' list.

This move comes after Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to 104 per cent, effective Wednesday. This has intensified the ongoing trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies.

Beijing on Wednesday dismissed Washington’s demands as coercive and said, "The US threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the US’s blackmailing nature,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement. The ministry further warned, “If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end."