WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump’s steep tariff hike targeting Chinese goods, which took effect Thursday, brings Washington’s additional rate on many products to 145 per cent, the White House confirms.

Trump’s 90-day halt in fresh duties for dozens of countries has come into place, a White House order showed.

But he has also doubled down by raising new tariffs on Chinese imports to 125 per cent, a figure that stacks atop a 20 per cent additional duty from earlier in the year over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain.

This takes the total tariffs Trump has imposed on Chinese products this year to 145 per cent, stacking on existing levies from past Administrations.

But the latest 125 per cent figure on China, aimed at addressing practices Washington has deemed unfair, contains notable exclusions.

It excludes products like steel and aluminum imports, as well as autos, on which Trump slapped separate 25 per cent tariffs under separate regimes.

The number also does not apply to goods such as copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, and energy products — some of which Trump has signaled plans to target separately too.

All of this paints a more complicated picture of tariff levels, even as tensions soar between Washington and Beijing.