As early as February 1st, President Trump's team is considering imposing a 10% tariff on China, according to Trump's statements, as Reuters reported.
“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” the president said, speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening. “Probably Feb. 1 is the date we’re looking at,” he added.
The addictive synthetic opioid fentanyl causes tens of thousands of U.S. overdose deaths each year.
Washington and Beijing have agreed to collaborate on reducing illicit drug supplies, primarily generated in China and Mexico.
Trump reported a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday over fentanyl and trade. The Chinese statement said Xi advocated for collaboration and positive economic relations between the two countries.
China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang reported that a trade war has no winners at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday (official translation). He urged international support for “economic globalization” and “distribute it better.”
The offshore Chinese yuan rose before falling to 7.2796 per dollar.
Leading Chinese state-run and financial media ignored the planned tariffs and focused on other Trump announcements, including his EU tariff threat.
China trades most with the U.S. Official data from Wind Information shows China's dollar imports from the U.S. dipped 0.1% last year while exports rose 4.9%.
In 2024, China's trade surplus with the U.S. was $361 billion, up from $316.9 billion in 2020, Trump's last full year.
The White House hiked duties on Chinese goods to stimulate imports and address U.S. firms' worries in China. Beijing reacted with its own duties.
“If the US imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on China and China responded in kind, US GDP would be $55 billion less over the four years of the second Trump administration, and $128 billion less in China,” the U.S.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics said in a Jan. 17 report.
On Tuesday, Trump mentioned that his team was discussing the possibility of imposing a tariff of "approximately 25%" on Mexico and Canada.
He made similar comments the day before, saying that taxes on Mexico and Canada may be implemented as soon as February.
“We’re thinking in terms of 25% (levies) on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing a vast number of people” over the border, he said on Monday.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to impose tariffs of more than 60% on commodities from China. According to a post on his social media network Truth Social, he advocated for "an additional 10% Tariff" on China as late as November.
