President Donald Trump said his threat to hit China with 10% tariffs on all imports was still on the table and indicated it could come as soon as next month, a day after he left the world’s second-largest economy out of the countries he was looking to target imminently.
“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China, based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said during an event at the White House. “Probably February 1st is the date we’re looking at.”
Trump’s comments on Tuesday suggest that any reprieve for China from promised trade levies may be short-lived.
Trump during his campaign pledged sweeping tariffs against other nations, including levies of 60% on Chinese products. After his election he also threatened to impose an additional 10% duty on China, citing the trafficking in fentanyl and chemicals used to make the deadly drug, as well as 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada if they failed to help the US secure its borders.
Trump on Tuesday also singled out the European Union, which he said was “very very bad” to the US.
“Other countries are big abusers also, you know it’s not just China,” Trump said. “We have a US$350 billion deficit with the European Union. They treat us very very badly, so they’re going to be in for tariffs.”
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Early Restraint
On Monday, the first day of his new term, Trump held off on ordering China-specific tariffs, even as he said that he intended to hit Canada and Mexico — both US neighbors and close allies — with the 25% levies by Feb 1.
Trump instead told his administration to address unfair trade practices globally and investigate whether Beijing had complied with a deal he signed during his first stint in office, adopting what appeared to be a slower approach to China.
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It is unclear under what legal authority Trump could order these tariffs imposed. In that executive order on Monday, he told officials to “assess the unlawful migration and fentanyl flows” from Canada, Mexico, and China and report back by April 1. Before his inauguration there were reports he was considering declaring a national economic emergency to allow new tariffs, but such a move hasn’t been announced.
“While the Trump Administration’s instant actions do not lead to new tariffs being imposed immediately, the memorandum demonstrates a clear and methodical effort to lay the foundations for future tariff actions and other measures,” according to a report on the executive order by law firm Baker Mckenzie.
Trump aggressively targeted China during his first term over trade, starting a clash that reshaped supply chains and the global economy — and his administration has signaled it intends to continue a tough approach.
Trump spoke to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping days before his second inauguration, in a call in which they discussed trade, fentanyl and ByteDance’s social media app TikTok.
“We didn’t talk too much about tariffs, other than he knows where I stand,” Trump said Tuesday, defending his approach to the issue.
“Look, I put large tariffs on China. I’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars. Until I was president, China never paid not 10 cents to the United States,” he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said China would expand its imports, saying the country did not seek a “trade surplus.”
“We want to import more competitive, quality products and services to promote balanced trade,” Ding said on Tuesday at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, without naming any other country.
