China could ban the import of Hollywood films as Beijing vows it will "fight to the end" in a trade war with the United States. It comes as the Chinese state hit back at US President Donald Trump's announcement a 34% tax on Chinese imports last Wednesday.
Beijing retaliated on Sunday, following last week's decision by Trump to slap a further 34% tax on Chinese imports as he announced trade taxes targetting allies and foes around the world. Tariffs had already been in place, taking the levy on the world's largest consumer market to well over 54%, and Beijing retaliated with an additional 34% tariff on American imports set to come into affect on April 10. It prompted a furious response from Trump who treatened to add an additional 50% tariff on China if their new levy wasn't withdrawn by today (April 8), but reports suggest Beijing is looking to go a step further to punish the Trump administration's aggressive stance.
Two influential Chinese social media figures, including a senior editor at Xinhuanet, the website of China's official state-backed Xinhua News Agency posted various measures authorities are said to be considering to hit back at Washington further, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, as per Bloomberg.
These reportedly include:
The Chinese state is also said to be considering reducing or banning the import of US films, a move that could present a major blow to one of America's biggest industries.
US films grossed $585million in China in 2024, representing around 3.5% of China's $17.71billion box office, as per The Mail.
The potential escalation in the trade war came after China's commerce ministry put out a fiery statement, saying: "The US side's threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side's blackmailing nature.
"If the United States insists on having its way, China will fight to the end," it added.
Trump’s tariffs sent financial markets into meltdown across the world, with the UK FTSE down 9.3% over five days and the US S&P shedding 9.6%.
However, London’s financial markets recovered some ground on Tuesday morning following days of market turmoil in response to the wideranging levies.
Despite warnings that Trump's tariff policy could unleash a global recession, Trump doubled down on the approach during a meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
He told reporters: “We've been ripped off and taken advantage of by many countries over the years, and can't do it anymore. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals.”
