China has responded to US President Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs totalling 104% on Chinese goods with an 84% tariff on US imports.

The Office of the Tariff Commission of the State Council in Beijing has announced that tariffs on US goods will increase from 34% to 84% on Thursday (10 April). The 104% US tariff on Chinese goods took effect earlier today.

In February, Trump announced a 10% tariff on Chinese imports as supposed punishment for the country's role in the fentanyl trade, which he then increased to 20% by the end of the month.

He subsequently increased the tariff on China by 34% when announcing his administration's full regime of global tariffs last week, and then to 104% when Beijing responded in kind with its own tariff of 34% on US products.

Speaking at dinner for Republican politicians in Washington, DC on Tuesday night, Trump acknowledged that the 104% rate for China "sounds ridiculous" but insisted that Beijing wanted to "make a deal" to avoid it.

Defending his trade policies, which have led stock markets in the US and around the world to crater over the past week, Trump said many countries "ripped us off left and right"

"But now it's our turn to do the ripping," Trump said. "I know what the hell I'm doing," he told guests, adding that countries hit by his tariffs were "dying to make a deal".

After Trump added 50% to the tariff on Chinese imports, bringing the total to 104%, Beijing accused him of behaving like a bully, and said it would "fight to the end" if the US "insists on provoking a tariff war or a trade war".

A white paper published by the Chinese government on Wednesday said China was willing to continue a dialogue with the US to resolve differences.

Speaking at the same dinner last night, Trump threatened imminent tariffs on pharmaceutical products. Ireland exported €44.4bn worth of pharma products to the US and is the European home to American pharma groups like Pfizer and AbbVie.

(Pic: Getty Images)