1 day ago
5
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
A 10 percent tariff on Chinese products took effect just after midnight Tuesday, and it remains to be seen if Mr. Trump will strike a deal to remove them.
Feb. 4, 2025, 12:09 a.m. ET
President Trump’s 10 percent tariff on all Chinese products went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, the result of an executive order issued over the weekend aimed at pressuring Beijing to crack down on fentanyl shipments into the United States.
The tariffs, which Mr. Trump said on Monday were an “opening salvo,” come on top of levies that the president imposed during his first term. Many Chinese products already face a 10 or 25 percent tariff and the move will add a 10 percent tariff to more than $400 billion of goods Americans purchase from China each year.
Mr. Trump had been planning to hit America’s three largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China, with tariffs of varying degrees. But after days of frantic negotiations, Mr. Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days after the Canadian and Mexican governments promised to step up their oversight of fentanyl and the border.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said he planned to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping within the next 24 hours, but it was not clear when the phone call would take place. A White House official confirmed Monday afternoon that the tariffs with China were still set to take effect at midnight.
Mr. Trump’s executive order, signed on Saturday, also ended a popular workaround that many Chinese companies have used to send goods to the United States without paying the tariffs that the president imposed in 2018. The provision, known as de minimis, allowed popular e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu to send billions of dollars of products from Chinese factories directly to American consumers tariff free.
The deal that Mr. Trump made with Canada and Mexico Monday brought the United States back from the brink of a potentially devastating trade war with two of its closest allies. But it did not preclude the threat of similar conflicts happening later.
