WASHINGTON - The first round of promised U.S. tariffs on imports from China could begin as early as next week, President Donald Trump said Tuesday. He also unveiled plans for levies on goods arriving in America from Mexico, Canada and even the European Union.
Trump had originally threatened to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office, after suggesting during last year’s election campaign that tariffs on Chinese goods could even go to “more than” 60%.
But the tariffs were not part of the flurry of executive orders from the new president on his first day back in the White House on Monday.
On Tuesday, though, Trump said Feb. 1 could be the day for the tariffs, which he has long said are needed to boost domestic industry.
“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” which is then brought into the United States, Trump said after announcing a US$500 billion A.I. infrastructure investment by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank.
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid that U.S. authorities blame for killing tens of thousands of Americans each year. Precursors for the drug are produced in China and then turned into fentanyl by Mexican transnational drug trafficking groups to be smuggled into America.
Trump said he had discussed the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a phone call on Friday ahead of Trump’s return to power.
“I said, we don’t want that crap in our country,” Trump recalled.
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Efforts to stem the outflow of fentanyl precursors from China formed a key part of former U.S. President Joe Biden’s diplomacy with Beijing. A pledge from Xi to crack down on precursor exports was one of three major outcomes of Biden and Xi’s 2023 summit in San Francisco.
In the months following that meeting, Biden administration officials largely credited their Chinese counterparts with following through on their promises, but Trump said enough was still not being done.
‘No winners’
Beijing has been careful not to directly criticize Trump in his first few days in office but has nevertheless pushed back against tariffs.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang did not directly refer to the new U.S. president, but called for a renewed promotion of “globalization.”
“Protectionism leads nowhere. Trade war has no winners,” Ding told the forum. “We have the wisdom and capability needed to find a win-win and all-win solution, one that is based on mutually beneficial cooperation, through communication and coordination.”
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning echoed the vice premier’s remarks when asked about Trump’s 10% tariff.
“We believe that there’s no winner in a trade or tariff war, and we firmly uphold our national interests,” Mao said, adding China would “maintain communication with the U.S.” to “properly” handle their differences.
China, Mexico and Canada are America’s three largest sources of imports, accounting for around US$536 billion, US$454 billion and US$436.6 billion per year, respectively. They also dwarf all other sources: Japan (US$148 billion) and Germany (US$146 billion) round out the top five.
But it’s not only those three that could be targeted.
Trump told reporters Tuesday evening that the 27-nation European Union, which together accounts for some US$553 billion in U.S. imports each year, “treat[s] us very, very badly” and should also be penalized.
“They’re going to be in for tariffs,” the U.S. president said of the European Union. “It’s the only way you’re going to get fairness.”