Trump announces possible tariffs on Chinese imports as early as next week

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the first phase of US tariffs on Chinese imports could be implemented as soon as next week, Radio Free Asia reported.

According to Radio Free Asia, Trump threatened to impose 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports on his/her first day in office, following his/her campaign promise last year that tariffs on Chinese goods could potentially exceed 60 percent.

The tariffs were not included in the series of executive orders signed by the new president on Monday in his/her first day in the White House. However, on Tuesday Trump hinted that February 1 could be the day the tariffs are imposed, Radio Free Asia reported, stressing that they are necessary to strengthen domestic industry.

“We’re talking about a 10 percent tariff on China based on the fact that they’re shipping fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said after announcing a US$500 billion AI infrastructure investment by Oracle, OpenAI and ” SoftBank.

According to Radio Free Asia, Trump noted that he/she had discussed the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call on Friday before returning to power. “I told them, we don’t want that nonsense in our country,” Trump recalled.

Efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl precursors from China were the main focus of former US President Joe Biden’s diplomatic efforts with Beijing. One of the main outcomes of the 2023 summit between Biden and Xi in San Francisco was Xi’s pledge to crack down on the former’s exports.

In the months following that meeting, Biden administration officials largely acknowledged that China had made progress on its commitments. However, Trump argued that insufficient action was taken, RFA reported.

Fentanyl is an extremely powerful synthetic opioid that US officials blame for the deaths of thousands of Americans annually. Precursors to the drug are manufactured in China and then converted into fentanyl by Mexican international drug trafficking organizations, which smuggle it into the United States.