US President Donald Trump said his team is discussing a 10% tariff on China and that it could come into effect as early as 1 February.
‘We're talking about a 10% tariff on China based on the fact that they're shipping fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,’ the President told reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening, adding, ’We're probably looking at 1 February.’
Trump also said his team was talking about a tariff of ‘about 25 %’ on Mexico and Canada.
Trump said on Friday that he spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping about fentanyl and trade. In a statement made by China, Xi called for cooperation and stated that the two countries' economic relations are mutually beneficial.
‘If the US imposes an additional 10 % tariff on China and China responds in kind, over the four years of the second Trump administration, US GDP will be USD 55 billion lower and China's GDP will be USD 128 billion lower,’ the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics said in a report published on 17 January.
The US is China's largest trading partner
The US is China's largest trading partner on a one-country basis. China's imports from the US fell 0.1% in dollar terms last year, while its exports increased 4.9%, according to official data accessed through Wind Information.
The data showed that China's trade surplus with the US in 2024 was USD 361 million, higher than the USD 316.9 million reported for 2020, the last full year of Trump's first term. At the time, the White House had imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in an attempt to increase the country's imports of US goods and address long-standing concerns of US businesses in China. Beijing responded with its own tariffs.
‘If the US imposes an additional 10 % tariff on China and China responds in kind, US GDP would be USD 55 billion lower in the four years of the second Trump administration and USD 128 billion lower in China,’ the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics said in a report dated 17 January.
Planned tariffs on US neighbours
Trump also stated on Tuesday that his team was talking about imposing tariffs of ‘about 25% on Mexico and Canada.
He made similar comments a day earlier, stating that taxes on Mexico and Canada could be imposed as early as February.
‘We are considering a 25% (tax) on Mexico and Canada because they allow so many people to cross the border,’ he said on Monday.
While campaigning for election in 2024, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese goods. Most recently, in November, he called for an ‘extra 10% tariff’ on China in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.
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