Undeterred by a slide in stock markets, Trump on Monday said he would impose an additional 50 per cent duty on US imports from China on Wednesday if the world's No. 2 economy did not withdraw the 34 per cent tariffs it had imposed on US products last week.
Those Chinese tariffs had come in response to 34 per cent "reciprocal" duties announced by Trump.
"All talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!" he wrote on social media.
The announcement injected further turbulence into global financial markets, which have fallen steadily since Trump's announcement.
A 10 per cent tariff took effect on all imports into the world's largest consumer market on Saturday, and targeted duties of up to 50 per cent are due to snap into place on Wednesday.
US stocks briefly stopped their downward slide after a rumour that Trump was considering a 90-day tariff pause, then turned negative again after the White House dismissed the report as "fake news".
Trump faces mounting pressure in the financial markets and from business leaders to backtrack on his tariff ambitions, yet he has shown no signs of reversing course or finding a message to calm panicked markets.
The Republican president has insisted his tariffs are necessary to rebalance global trade and rebuild domestic manufacturing.
The European Union was offering the United States an agreement on the reciprocal lifting of all tariffs on industrial goods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
The EU remains ready to negotiate a solution despite the US tariff decisions, von der Leyen said, after an exchange with representatives from the steel and metals industries.
The US imposed tariffs of up to 25 per cent on imports of steel, aluminium and related derivative products from the EU and other trading partners in March.
"Sooner or later, we will sit at the negotiation table with the US and find a mutually acceptable compromise," EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said at a news conference.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday the government would back its car manufacturers "to the hilt" after Trump on April 3 imposed a 25 per cent tariff on car imports.
Starmer described the tariffs as a "huge challenge".
Trump said on Sunday he would not back down from his tariffs despite the turmoil in the global markets.
"Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," Trump said.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday that Trump had talked to world leaders all weekend and would listen to proposals for great deals.
"He's doubling down on something that he knows works, and he's going to continue to do that," Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on Fox News.
"But he is also going to listen to our trading partners and if they come to us with really great deals that advantage American manufacturing and American farmers, I'm sure he'll listen."
Countries are lining up to make deals, Hassett said.
"In President Trump's view is it's these countries that are sending inelastic supply to the country, and so they're going to bear the brunt of the tariffs," Hassett said.
with DPA and Reuters
15°C