China has vowed to "fight to the end" against Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on imports. It comes after the US President said he would hit China with an additional 50% levy if Beijing does not withdraw the 34% tariff it recently imposed on American imports.

China's Finance Ministry retaliated against Trump last Friday after he imposed 34% tariffs on imports, signalling an escalation of the trade war and heightening fears of a global recession. They have since reiterated their stance, vowing to take "countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests".

A spokesperson for China's commerce industry 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 will never accept this.

"If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end. If the US escalates its tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests."

If Trump enforces a further 50% tariff, US companies could face a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports. He also warned on Truth Social that "all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us [on tariffs] will be terminated!"

The US President said China had introduced its countermeasure "despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the US by issuing additional Tariffs... will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs".

Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in response: "The US hegemonic move in the name of 'reciprocity' serves its selfish interests at the expense of other countries' legitimate interests and puts 'America first' over international rules. This is a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying."

China’s commerce ministry also reiterated on Tuesday that it sought “dialogue” with the US, and that there were “no winners in a trade war”.

Trump's tariff announcements last week have plunged financial markets across the world. The US stock futures dropped dramatically while the FTSE 100 in London shed over 300 points since the start of trading on Friday.