Trump says he could hit China with 10% tariff from next month

President Donald Trump said his threat to hit China with 10% tariffs on all imports was still on the table and indicated it could come as soon as next month.

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China, based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” Trump said during an event at the White House. “Probably February 1st is the date we’re looking at.”

Trump’s comments on Tuesday — which come a a day after he left the world’s second-largest economy out of the countries he was looking to target imminently — suggest that any reprieve for China may be short-lived.

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

Chinese stocks fell, with the onshore benchmark CSI 300 Index headed for its first decline in five days and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index the worst performer in Asia. While the 10% level is lower than the potential levies of 60% on Chinese products that Trump floated during his election campaign, investors are bracing for more volatility.

“It only gets tougher from here,” said Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director at abrdn Plc in Singapore. “It’s a reminder that Trump will do something, because the first day might have given some the false impression that he might not. More gradual tariffs might also delay or reduce the force of stimulus that the market wants.”

Early restraint

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% levies by February 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 on Tuesday also singled out the European Union, which he said was “very, very bad” to the US.

“Other countries are big abusers also, you know it’s not just China,” Trump said. “We have a $350 billion deficit with the European Union. They treat us very very badly, so they’re going to be in for tariffs.”

He also reiterated his earlier threat to hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs, emphasizing that this wasn’t an attempt to force renegotiations of the three nations’ free-trade deal, but was because they had allowed illegal immigrants and drugs to cross into the US.

It is unclear under what legal authority Trump could order these tariffs imposed. In that executive order on Monday, he told officials to “assess the unlawful migration and fentanyl flows” from Canada, Mexico, and China and report back by April 1. Before his inauguration there were reports he was considering declaring a national economic emergency to allow new tariffs, but such a move hasn’t been announced.

“While the Trump Administration’s instant actions do not lead to new tariffs being imposed immediately, the memorandum demonstrates a clear and methodical effort to lay the foundations for future tariff actions and other measures,” according to a report on the executive order by law firm Baker Mckenzie.

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.

© 2025 Bloomberg

Follow Moneyweb’s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.