Trump’s Numbers Game: Real or Rhetorical?
Though President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both claimed on Wednesday that tariffs on Chinese goods would total 125%, an executive order and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule suggest a compounded total of 145%. A White House official confirmed that most Chinese imports will indeed face that rate, while steel and aluminum products could be subject to even higher duties.
“America holds the upper hand here,” the unnamed official claimed. “No other country has our level of consumer spending power. China can’t just pivot elsewhere.”
Yet not everyone agrees. A study released Friday by the Peterson Institute for International Economics placed the effective U.S. tariff rate at 134.7%—still a colossal sixfold increase from when Trump first took office and 40 times the level seen when the broader trade war erupted in 2018.
Beijing Unfazed, Hollywood Caught in the Crossfire
China’s Ministry of Commerce dismissed the spiraling tariff rates as “a numbers game without practical significance.” But the message was clear: continued economic aggression would be met with unflinching resistance.
“If the U.S. continues to infringe upon China’s rights and interests, we will resolutely counter and fight to the end,” the ministry warned.
Already, China is pushing back in other cultural arenas. The China Film Administration said Thursday it would scale back the number of American movies entering Chinese theaters, citing waning audience appeal amid escalating tariffs.
“We will respect market dynamics and reduce imports of U.S. films,” the regulator declared.
