China again vowed to “fight to the end” Wednesday in an escalating trade war with the U.S. as it announced it would raise tariffs on American goods to 84% from Thursday.

Beijing also added an array of countermeasures after U.S. President Donald Trump raised the total tariff on imports from China to 104%.

“If the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end,” the Ministry of Commerce wrote in a statement introducing its white paper on trade with the U.S.

The government declined to say whether it would negotiate with the White House, as many other countries have started doing.

On Friday, China announced a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the U.S, export controls on rare earths minerals, and a slew of other measures in response to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Trump then added an additional 50% tariff on goods from China, saying negotiations with them were terminated.

So far, China has not appeared interested in bargaining. “If the U.S. truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian Wednesday.

The paper says that the U.S. has not honored the promises it made in the phase 1 trade deal concluded during Trump’s first term. As an example, it said that a U.S. law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company violates a promise that neither would “pressure the other party to transfer technology to its own individuals.”

Trump signed an order to keep TikTok running for another 75 days last week after a potential deal to sell the app to American owners was put on ice. ByteDance representatives called the White House to indicate that China would no longer approve the deal until there could be negotiations about trade and tariffs.

The paper also argued that taking into account trade in services and U.S. companies’ domestic Chinese branches, economic exchange between the two countries is “roughly in balance.”

It says that China had a trade in services deficit with the U.S. of $26.57 billion in 2023, which is composed of industries like insurance, banking and accounting. Trump’s tariffs were designed to close trade deficits with foreign countries, but those were calculated only based on trades in physical, tangible goods.

“History and facts have proven that the United States’ increase in tariffs will not solve its own problems,” said the statement from the Chinese commerce ministry. “Instead, it will trigger sharp fluctuations in financial markets, push up U.S. inflation pressure, weaken the U.S. industrial base and increase the risk of a U.S. economic recession, which will ultimately only backfire on itself.

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• Apple’s market cap has plummeted by $700 billion as its stock takes a beating in the aftermath of Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs. The company is uniquely exposed to Trump’s tariffs on China, as it produces most of its moneymaker iPhones in the country. If CEO Tim Cook can’t secure tariff exemptions for the company, as he did during the first Trump administration, the blow could be “a complete disaster,” according to Wedbush Securities analysts.

Apple’s market cap has collapsed by $700 billion in the days following Trump’s “liberation day” as investors realized just how much new tariffs will hit the tech giant’s biggest moneymaker.

In the three days after Trump announced new eye-popping tariffs on U.S. trading partners, Apple stock plummeted 19%, making it the worst drop over the same period since 2001. Since April 2, Apple’s stock rout has chipped away about $700 billion from its market cap, dropping it to $2.6 trillion as of Monday from about $3.3 trillion last week. From $223 per share last week, Apple’s share price, as of Tuesday, had fallen to $175, and was down 3% in afternoon trading.

The stock rout comes as analysts warn the company’s biggest moneymaker, the iPhone, is at major risk from President Trump’s mega-tariffs because of its supply chain in Asia. While Apple secured exemptions when Trump instituted tariffs during his first administration, it’s unclear if CEO Tim Cook will be able to secure the same treatment this time.

“The tariff economic Armageddon unleashed by Trump is a complete disaster for Apple given its massive China production exposure,” Wedbush Securities analysts led by Dan Ives wrote in a Sunday note. “In our view, no US tech company is more negatively impacted by these tariffs than Apple with 90% of iPhones produced and assembled in China.”

Despite Trump’s plan to use tariff pressure to bring more manufacturing to the U.S., analysts estimate moving even one-tenth of Apple’s supply chain to the U.S. would cost $30 billion and take three years. If Apple passes increased costs to consumers, the price of an iPhone could skyrocket.

The price of Apple’s cheapest iPhone 16 could jump to $1142 from its announced price tag of $799, Reuters reported, citing analysts at Rosenblatt Securities. The price of an iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1 terabyte of storage could jump from $1,599 to about $2,300, the analysts estimated.

Apple did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.

The current tariffs at 32% for Taiwan and 54% for China would be especially “devastating” to Apple and its costs, the analysts wrote. Trump also said Tuesday he would follow through with the additional tariffs of 50% he threatened against China for retaliating against the United States’ initial tariff hikes last week. If instituted at midnight as planned, cumulative tariffs on China would be around 104%.

Apple has diversified its supply chain away from China in recent years, but Wedbush analysts estimate that along with most iPhones, 50% of Mac products and 75% to 80% of iPads are still made in China. 

The tech giant has also shifted production to Vietnam, including about 90% of its wearables like the Apple Watch, according to Evercore ISI. Yet, Apple’s imports to the U.S. from Vietnam will, as of now, also be hit with a 46% tariff.

Apple now produces about 1 in 7 iPhones, or $14 billion worth of the products, in India, Bloomberg reported. Imports from India still face a tariff of 26%.

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China is trying to tariff-proof its economy by boosting consumption and investing in key industries, but analysts say it remains critically vulnerable to the economic storm triggered by Donald Trump’s 104 percent levies on its goods.

Beijing has vowed to “fight to the end” against Trump’s aggressive trade policy, with number two leader Li Qiang saying authorities were “fully confident” in the resilience of the Chinese economy.

But even before the tariffs hit, weakness in the post-Covid domestic market, rising unemployment and a long-running property crisis had all dampened consumption.

“The Chinese economy has been significantly weakened since Trump’s first term and can’t really withstand the impact of sustained high tariffs,” said Henry Gao, an expert on the Chinese economy and international trade law.

Overseas shipments had represented a rare bright spot last year, with the United States the top single country buyer of Chinese goods.

US figures put Chinese exports to the United States at around $440 billion in 2024, almost three times the $145 billion worth of imports.

Machinery and electronics — as well as textiles, footwear, furniture and toys — make up a majority of the goods sent, and a supply glut could squeeze already crowded domestic consumer markets.

Although China’s domestic market is stronger now than in Trump’s previous term, there would inevitably be pain ahead, said Tang Yao from Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.

“Certain products are specifically designed for American or European markets, so efforts to redirect them to domestic consumers will have only a limited effect,” he said.

‘Strategic opportunity’

However, a weekend editorial in the Communist Party-backed People’s Daily described the tariffs as a “strategic opportunity” for China to cement consumption as the main driver of economic growth.

We must “turn pressure into motivation”, it read.

Beijing has been seeking to “recast structural external pressure as a catalyst for long-intended reforms”, said Lizzi Lee from the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

Authorities are “projecting confidence”, she said.

China’s quick and coordinated response to tariffs reflect lessons learned from Trump’s first term, she added.

For example, in addition to readying reciprocal tariffs on US goods set to come into effect Thursday, Beijing’s commerce ministry the same day announced export controls on seven rare earth elements — including ones used in magnetic imaging and consumer electronics.

Beijing’s response to any further escalation may no longer be confined to tit-for-tat levies, as China is “refining its retaliatory approach”, Lee said.

Since Trump’s first term, China has diversified and fortified relationships with countries in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, as well as South Korea and Japan.

Beijing could also expand government support for the private sector as entrepreneurs fall back into President Xi Jinping’s good graces, added ANZ’s Raymond Yeung.

China’s leaders have been trying to promote domestic self-reliance in technology for some time, offering explicit support and reinforcing supply chains in key areas like AI and chips.

‘No real protection’

While this time round Beijing has more experience with Trump, it “doesn’t mean the Chinese economy can easily shake off the effects of soaring tariffs”, said Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC.

Authorities will be looking to quickly offset falling US demand for Chinese goods, he said.

That could look like trade-in schemes or more consumer subsidies that make it easier for Chinese shoppers to buy common household items, from water purifiers to electric vehicles.

“By creating demand and trade opportunities for China’s partners in Asia and Europe, the country could help shore up what’s left of the liberal global trading order,” Neumann said.

But whether or not Beijing can do that is yet to be seen.

The government has “been very reluctant to introduce real consumption stimulus, which is why there’s such low confidence in any so-called consumption-boosting measures”, Gao said.

“I don’t think China has any real protection against a trade war,” he added.

Success also goes beyond words, and ultimately hinges on Beijing’s ability to deliver the long-awaited consumption boost, HSBC’s Neumann warned.

“This is China’s moment to seize economic leadership of the world,” he said.

“But that leadership will only come about if domestic demand rebounds and fills the void left by an absent US.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com