Weighing 10% tariff threat on China, says Trump a day after taking office

By Josh Wingrove and Hadriana Lowenkron 

President Donald Trump said his threat to hit China with 10 per cent tariffs on all imports was still on the table, a day after he left the world’s second largest economy out of the countries he was looking to target imminently. 

Trump’s comments on Tuesday, though, suggest that any reprieve for China from promised trade levies may be short-lived.

 

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10 per cent on China, based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said during an event at the White House.

 

Trump during his campaign pledged sweeping tariffs against other nations, including levies of 60 per cent on Chinese products. After his election he also threatened to impose an additional 10 per cent duty on China, citing the trafficking in fentanyl and chemicals used to make the deadly drug, as well as 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada if they failed to help the US secure its borders.

 

Yet 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 per cent 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.

 

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 Ltd.’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.