'Really big deal': China's response to Trump could reportedly 'really hurt' U.S. farmers

China responded to president Donald Trump's trade war threats with its own 34-percent retaliatory tariffs on all U.S. goods, and a CNN correspondent warned that farmers could be hit hard by the move.

The president announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on imports from about 90 countries Wednesday, which he dubbed "Liberation Day," and claimed the new taxes were necessary to erase trade deficits between the U.S. and its trading partners, and China responded with a corresponding duty to that imposed by Trump.

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"This is significant," said CNN's Marc Stewart. "I'm going to put that in boldface type. This is a really big deal, these tariffs, these 34-percent tariffs on all American imports are the fight back that China said it would do if pressured by the United States. These additional tariffs, because there are already tariffs of anywhere from 10 percent to 15 percent already in place. These tariffs will certainly hurt the American economy in the sense that they will really hurt the heartland of America, as in America's farmers, right now. If we look at all of the products that China imports in from the United States, soybeans topped the list. Soybeans are needed here in China because they are the ingredient that fuels the pork industry, which is one of the top commodities in this part of the world. So these additional tariffs are very strategic in the sense that they will hit farmers in the middle part of the United States."

"We're still waiting for the timing and the implementation of all of this, but this sends a very big statement," Stewart added. "Also important in all of this is the timing of all of this. This is a very sacred holiday weekend right now, this is a time where families take time to remember those who have passed away. For the government to do this late on a Friday afternoon, early Friday evening here in Beijing, really talks about the weight of all of this as far as what is next. Beijing is giving us some lines here and there. We will keep track, but again, this is this is a very significant fight back from China."

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