China now faces up to 245% retaliatory tariff: White House
Washington, Apr 16 (PTI): China now faces tariffs up to 245 per cent on imports to the United States due to its retaliatory actions, the White House has said, as the trade war escalated between the world's two largest economies.
Separately in a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China "just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will “not take possession” of fully committed to aircraft".
He appeared to be confirming reports that China has asked its airlines not to take deliveries of planes from American aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
In the post, he also vowed to protect the US and its farmers in a trade war with its adversaries, such as China.
In a fact sheet issued on Tuesday, the White House said President Trump signed an executive order launching an investigation into the national security risks posed by US reliance on imported processed critical minerals and their derivative products.
"On Day One, President Trump initiated his America First Trade Policy to make America’s economy great again," it said.
"More than 75 countries have already reached out to discuss new trade deals. As a result, the individualized higher tariffs are currently paused amid these discussions, except for China, which retaliated," it said.
"China now faces up to a 245% tariff on imports to the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions," the fact sheet said, without giving details.
China is the only country to have retaliated with tit-for-tat levies.
China on Friday raised its additional tariffs on imports from the US to 125 per cent in retaliation to the Trump administration's 145 per cent levies on Chinese exports. China also filed a lawsuit with the WTO following the US tariff hikes.
China earlier retaliated with 84 per cent levies and imposed restrictions on imports of some US films, expressing its interest in holding dialogue with Washington to resolve the issue.
The fact sheet accused China of banning exports to the US of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications.
"Just this week, China suspended exports of six heavy rare earth metals, as well as rare earth magnets, in order to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world," it added.
According to the fact sheet, processed critical minerals and their derivative products are key building blocks of Amercia's defence industrial base and integral to applications such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, advanced computing, radar systems, advanced optics, and secure communications equipment.
"The United States remains heavily dependent on foreign sources, particularly adversarial nations, for these essential materials, exposing the economy and defence sector to supply chain disruptions and economic coercion," it added.
Trump has paused the additional duties on other nations for 90 days.
On Wednesday, China appointed Li Chenggang, who has decades of experience handling international negotiations and also served as China's ambassador to the World Trade Organization, as international trade representative at the Ministry of Commerce.
The move came after President Trump said the ball was in Beijing’s court to work out a deal to end the tariff deadlock.
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UK Professor Nitasha Kaul's Overseas Citizenship of India cancelled
Academician decries move as "transnational repression"
London/New Delhi: Professor Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic, announced on May 18, 2025, via a social media post that her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been cancelled by the Indian government. She described the move as a "bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" intended to punish her for her scholarly work critical of the Modi government's policies concerning minorities and democracy.
The cancellation follows an incident in February 2024 when Professor Kaul, who holds a British passport and held an OCI card, was denied entry into India upon arrival at Bengaluru airport. She had been invited by the then Congress-led Karnataka state government to speak at a conference on "The Constitution and Unity in India."
According to an image of the letter shared by Professor Kaul, the Indian government stated that it had been "brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The letter further accused her of regularly targeting India and its institutions on matters of India's sovereignty through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms."
Professor Kaul, who is a Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster, London, vehemently rejects these accusations. She stated she had provided a 20,000-word response to what she termed the government's "ridiculous inanity about ‘anti-India’," but the OCI was cancelled through a "rigged process."
In her social media posts, Professor Kaul lamented the decision, questioning how the "mother of democracy" could deny her access to her mother in India. She characterized the action as stemming from "thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent."
The February 2024 denial of entry had already sparked controversy. At the time, immigration officials reportedly cited "orders from Delhi" without providing formal reasons, though Professor Kaul mentioned informal references to her past criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Ministry of External Affairs had then responded by stating that the entry of foreign nationals into India is a "sovereign decision." Unofficial government sources had indicated that a "preventive lookout circular" was issued against her due to her alleged "pro-separatist" and "anti-India" stance on Kashmir.
The BJP in Karnataka had criticised the state government for inviting her, labelling her an "anti-India element." Conversely, the then-Karnataka government and various international human rights organizations and academic bodies had condemned the denial of entry.
Professor Kaul has been an outspoken commentator on Indian politics, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and has testified before international bodies such as the US Congress on human rights in the region. She maintains her work is academic and pro-democracy, not anti-India.
The cancellation of her OCI card effectively bars her from entering India, a country to which she has personal and academic ties. This incident adds to a growing list of academics, journalists, and activists of Indian origin whose OCI status has been revoked or who have been denied entry to India in recent years, raising concerns about freedom of speech and dissent. Reports indicate that over 100 OCI cards were cancelled by the Indian government between 2014 and May 2023. Furthermore, in 2021, new rules were introduced requiring OCI cardholders to obtain special permission for activities such as research and journalism.
