China calls Trump's trade war a joke, jumps tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%

In the latest trade back-and-forth, China has surged its tariff rate on US goods from 84% to 125%, at the same time saying it won't negotiate if the U.S. continues to engage in "trade blackmail."

Starting on April 12, the Chinese government will raise tariffs on all U.S. goods by another 41%. This increase comes two days after the last increase, saw tariffs surge from 34% to 84%.

In a statement released by China's State Council Tariff Commission, spotted by Bloomberg, China has declared that it will raise tariffs from 84% to 125%. It then said that because of the prohibitively high tariff level, there is no market for American goods.

But, should America raise the tariffs again, China has made it clear that it will not raise tariffs. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce said that if the U.S. is to continue infringing upon China's rights and interests, the country will enact its own countermeasures and follow them through to the end.

It didn't specify those countermeasures. However, as it has done before, there are always non-tariff options like limiting quantities of US goods that are allowed in the country, and other restrictions and requirements placed on US businesses, like Apple, to continue to do business in the country.

In a separate statement released by China's Commerce Ministry China identified the Trump Administration's tariffs coercion and bullying, saying the abnormally high tariffs have no practical meaning in the economy and ultimately have become a joke.

It also said that China is open to negotiation, but threats and pressure are not the right way to deal with China. Instead, the ministry would like to resolve differences through equal dialogue on the basis of mutual respect.

President Trump, however, has said he is waiting for a call from Beijing. China does not appear interested in calling first.

On April 9, Trump announced that he had authorized a 90-day pause on new tariffs against most countries the U.S. deals with. At the same time, there is also a lowering of the reciprocal tariff for most countries to 10% for the period, which is still three times more than what was applied before in most cases.

China, however, was not included in that pause. Instead, the administration raised the tariffs to 125%, but later clarified that the tariff rate was actually 145%. Apple stock, predictably, took another hit.

Apple's stock on Friday morning has been tumultous. At press time, it is about at Thursday's close.