China quietly rolls back retaliatory tariffs on some US-made semiconductors, import agencies say

China appears to have quietly rolled back retaliatory tariffs of 125% on some semiconductors made in the US, according to details provided to CNN on Friday by three import agencies in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, as Beijing tries to soften the blow of an ongoing trade war on its all-important tech industry.

The exemptions apply to integrated circuits, also known as microchips or semiconductors, according to the agencies. They found out about the exemptions, which have not been officially announced, on Thursday.

On April 12, China raised its reciprocal tariffs to 125% for all goods originating from the United States, in response to US President Donald Trump’s move to hike levies on Chinese goods to a sky-high 145%.

For months, Beijing has been projecting an air of strength and confidence in its ability to withstand an escalating trade war with the US. But these exemptions suggest it needs to roll back some levies on crucial items that it cannot make at home or source elsewhere. Besides semiconductors, China has decided to grant exemptions on some aircraft parts, including engines and landing gear, according to an aviation executive.

Semiconductors are an indispensable part of just about every electronic device. They are difficult to make because of the high cost of development and the level of knowledge required, meaning much of the production is concentrated among a handful of suppliers.

Although China has made strides in developing its own semiconductor industry, it is still highly dependent on imports of chips and chipmaking equipment from the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. Last year, China imported $11.7 billion worth of semiconductors from the US, according to customs data.

Duncan Clark, chairman of technology investment advisory firm BDA, said the exemptions suggest China does not have “autonomy in chips.”

“It has ambition for that. But basically, it’s going to be a while before it can be fully autonomous,” he said.

Ray Wang, a Washington-based analyst focusing on US-China tech competition, said the exemptions benefit American chipmakers such as Intel, Texas Instruments and Global Foundries, which would be affected by the Chinese tariffs.

Chinese authorities have not confirmed the exemptions on semiconductors publicly. The General Administration of Customs and the customs offices in Shenzhen and Zhongshan, both port cities in Guangdong province, said they were not aware of the exemptions.

A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said he was not familiar with the situation, when asked about the exemptions at a regular news conference Friday. CNN has reached out to the Chinese Commerce Ministry for comment.

Chen Shaoling, a manager at Zhengnenliang Supply Chain, an import agency, told CNN that she found out on Thursday that tariffs on eight kinds of integrated circuits, covering most semiconductors except for memory chips, had been waived to zero. The discovery was made during a routine custom clearance for her customers, she added.

“We only found out after we filed the declaration — without doing that, we wouldn’t have known,” Chen said. “The news is now spreading like wildfire.”

Caijing, a Chinese business magazine, reported on the exemptions on Friday, citing multiple tech companies that import semiconductors, including one based in Shanghai. The report was removed roughly three hours after it was published.

Critical components

The exemptions aren’t the first time Beijing has come to the aid of its tech sector, which is starting to enjoy a closer relationship with officialdom after a years-long regulatory crackdown.

Earlier this month, China removed tariffs on chips designed by American firms but manufactured outside the country. For example, US AI chip giant Nvidia’s products are largely made in Taiwan by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

On April 11, the state-backed China Semiconductor Industry Association said in a post on its official social media channel that the “declared country of origin” should be the location of the factory where the product was made.

That means semiconductors from American chip designers like Qualcomm and Nvidia, manufactured outside the US would not be subject to China’s 125% tariff on US goods.

This week’s exemptions appear to apply only to logic chips, which process and control data flow, an area dominated by the US. Memory chips, which store and retrieve data, are not included in the exemptions. South Korean firms Samsung and SK Hynix are the leaders in this market.

The local customs authority in Shenzhen appears to have notified some companies about the update.

“Fantastic news! We have received a new notice from China Customs, stating that eight tariff codes related to semiconductors/integrated circuits are now exempt from additional tariffs on US imports,” Shenzhen HJET Supply Chain wrote in a post on its official social media account Thursday.

“This means that imports originating from the United States under these codes will have their tariffs reduced to zero upon entry into China,” the post added.

A staff member at the company who picked up a call from CNN confirmed the new policy, saying her company was notified by local customs on Thursday.

Taihang Semiconductor, a company also based in Shenzhen that imports chips, told CNN it has received a notice from customs, though it declined to provide further details. “It’s definitely a good thing,” a staff member said when contacted by CNN.

Wider exemptions

China is granting exemptions in other sectors outside of semiconductors, including aviation, according to Olivier Andries, the chief executive of French engine maker Safran.

“Yesterday night, China has decided to exempt from tax any deliveries of engines, nacelles, landing gears or parts,” he said on an earnings call Friday.

The company is a major supplier to China’s aviation industry. It makes the oxygen systems and nacelles (the structure that houses the engines and connects them to the wings) for the C919, China’s first homegrown mainline passenger plane. The C919’s LEAP-1C engines are produced by CFM, a joint venture between US engine-maker GE Aviation and Safran.

According to Reuters, which cited an unnamed source, the Chinese government is also asking businesses to identify goods that could be eligible for exemption from its reciprocal US tariffs.

The world’s two largest economies are at each other’s throats in a bitter tariff fight that has roiled global markets, disrupted supply chains and stoked recession fears.

On April 11, Trump exempted imports of electronics such as smartphones and computers from his “reciprocal” tariffs. That exemption has had a major impact on tech giants like Apple, which make iPhones and other products in China.

In recent days, Trump has softened his tone, saying the astronomical tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially” and promised to be “very nice” at the negotiating table as he attempts to get Chinese leader Xi Jinping to make the first move to initiate trade talks.

But Beijing has brushed off Trump’s apparent olive branch, demanding the US should remove all tariffs on China if it wants to talk. Chinese officials have also repeatedly refuted Trump’s claims that the two sides are in talks about trade.

“There have been no negotiations between China and the United States on the issue of tariffs. The US should not mislead the public,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at the regular news conference Friday.

The rebuttal came after Trump said on Thursday that his administration had meetings with Chinese officials regarding trade earlier in the morning.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Beijing bureau and Olesya Dmitracova contributed reporting.

news from: CNN world

Massive blast rocks Iranian port city triggering state of emergency

Over a dozen people have been killed and hundreds injured in a huge explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, according to Iranian state media citing the country’s interior ministry.

 

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Summary of U.S. Reciprocal Tariff Measures

U.S. Reciprocal Tariff Implementation

Base Tariff 10%:
Effective from April 5, 2025 (U.S. time).

Reciprocal Tariffs:
Effective from April 9, 2025 (U.S. time) for the following countries:

  • Taiwan: 32%

  • China: 34%

  • Vietnam: 46%

  • Thailand: 36%

  • Malaysia: 24%

  • India: 32%

Product-Specific Tariffs:

  • From April 3, 2025 (U.S. time): A 25% tariff will be imposed on automobiles (e.g., light trucks, passenger cars, etc.).

  • Computers: Includes notebooks (NB) and PCs.

  • Gold bars, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and wood products: Not affected by reciprocal tariffs at this time.

  • Mexico and Canada: Not subject to reciprocal tariffs (as a 25% tariff is already in place).
    Note: Products that meet USMCA criteria may qualify for exemption. See attachment.

From May 2, 2025 (U.S. time):
The tariff exemption for low-value shipments under USD 800 will be eliminated.

From May 3, 2025 (U.S. time):
A 25% tariff will be imposed on auto parts (e.g., engines, transmissions, tires, lithium-ion batteries, spark plugs, shock absorbers, and automotive wiring).

Since March 2, 2025 (U.S. time):
Steel and aluminum have been subject to a 25% tariff.


Note: The U.S. has announced a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and parts. Please refer to page 9 of the attachment for the full tariff list. 附件

BOFT (Bureau of Foreign Trade):
https://www.trade.gov.tw/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeid=45&pid=799990

Tariffs on China set to rise to at least 104% on Wednesday, White House says

President Donald Trump is set to impose an astounding 104% in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday. This comes on top of Chinese tariffs that were in place prior to Trump’s second term.

China was already set to see tariffs increase by 34% on Wednesday as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs package. But the president tacked on another 50% after Beijing didn’t back off on its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods by noon Tuesday, adding an additional 84% in duties.

Earlier Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it “firmly opposes” the additional 50% tariffs on Chinese imports, calling it “a mistake upon a mistake.” The ministry vowed to escalate its retaliation on US exports.

US stocks, which soared Tuesday morning, began moving lower following Leavitt’s comments. Markets ultimately ended the day markedly lower. The Dow fell 320 points, or 0.84%. The broader S&P 500 fell 1.57%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.15%.

“Countries like China, who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers, are making a mistake,” Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.”

“The Chinese want to make a deal, they just don’t know how to do it,” she added. She declined to share what, if any, terms Trump would consider to lower tariffs on China.

Asian markets largely tracked Wall Street’s losses, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 opening about 3% lower on Wednesday, before paring half of those losses. Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 index was down about 1%.

In February, Trump had initially imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods, with no exceptions, tying it to the country’s alleged role in aiding illegal immigration and getting fentanyl into the US. Last month, he doubled those rates.

China was America’s second largest source of imports last year, shipping a total of $439 billion worth of goods to the US, while the US exported $144 billion worth of goods to China. The mutual tariffs threaten to hurt domestic industries and are poised to result in layoffs.

When Trump’s first term ended, the US charged an average tariff rate of 19.3% on Chinese goods, according to a Peterson Institute for International Economic analysis. The Biden administration kept most of Trump’s tariffs in place while also adding additional ones, bringing the average rate to 20.8%.

Come Wednesday, the total average tariff on Chinese exports to the US will soar to nearly 125%.

While previous rounds of Chinese tariffs caused more American businesses to look to other foreign countries like Mexico and Vietnam to manufacture goods, China remained the top foreign source of several items.

That includes, among others, toys, communication equipment such as smartphones, computers and a wide range of other consumer electronics. All these goods are likely to cost US consumers substantially more soon.

Dozens of countries set to see higher tariffs soon, too

Dozens of other countries as well as the European Union also face a midnight deadline for new tariff rates. Those rates, which Trump laid out last week, range from 11% to 50%.

Leavitt told reporters that despite several conversations with world leaders aiming to negotiate lower tariff rates, Trump has little appetite to delay his plans.

Having spoken with Trump earlier on Tuesday, Leavitt said, “He expects that these tariffs are going to go into effect.”

At the same time, she said Trump instructed his trade team to make “tailor-made” deals with countries that want to negotiate. Pressed further on whether the president had any timeline or deadline for the trade deals, Leavitt again reiterated that they won’t be “off-the-rack deals.”

Trump’s latest trick could make tariffs more palatable

President Donald Trump’s tariff ambitions have been a tough sell. They’ve put investors in a tizzy, sending financial markets spiraling; cost him the support of many members of his own voter base; and angered CEOs.

Rather than back down and reverse course entirely just a week before Trump’s promised “Liberation Day” on April 2, he’s employing a familiar marketing strategy: Prepare Americans for the worst and deliver something that’s not quite as tough to swallow.

On Monday, Trump did exactly that. “For the most part, April 2 will be a big day,” Trump said, referring to the day he has promised sweeping tariffs against all of America’s trading partners. It’s a subtle change from insisting that it will be the big day involving not just dollar-for-dollar reciprocal tariffs but also sector-wide tariffs. To investors’ glee, Trump even managed to mention doling out carve-outs.

“There definitely has to be a marketing component to this, as the logic behind increased tariffs is not obvious,” Colin Grabow, associate director at the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, told CNN. “My suspicion is that the Trump administration is trying to balance its goals of higher tariffs while not spooking markets too badly.”

Changing the conversation

On Monday, Trump changed the conversation from fears about the economic effects of tariffs to relief that he appeared to be delaying some of those levies.

Auto tariffs, he said, will be announced “very shortly.” Pharmaceutical tariffs: “At some point.” Semiconductor and lumber tariffs: “Down the road.” And on the big, bold reciprocal tariffs, Trump conceded, “I may give a lot of countries breaks.”

“We might be even nicer than that,” Trump added.

As Don Draper, the fictional ad executive in “Mad Men,” told a client concerned about public opinion: “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

This isn’t the first time Trump changed the conversation by presenting a lighter tariff approach compared to prior promises he’s made.

For example, days after Trump was reelected he said, “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.” That didn’t happen, however, causing stocks to surge as investors breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Then, the date for those tariffs got pushed back not once but twice. The second delay came after they were briefly enacted and then delayed — but only in part. That meant goods from the two countries are now subject to 25% tariffs if they don’t comply with the terms of the USMCA free trade treaty that Trump signed during his first term. That bit of fine print has largely gone unnoticed.

For China, Trump threatened on the campaign trail to levy tariffs as high as 60% on all Chinese goods coming into the US. As it stands, there’s a 20% tariff on Chinese imports and an additional 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from there.

Mexico, China and Canada are America’s top three trading partners, accounting for 41% of the total value of goods the US imported last year, according to Commerce Department data. That’s why economists and businesses have been fretting about a full-blown trade war between the three countries that could cause crucial goods to become significantly more expensive to produce. So far, that’s largely been avoided.

In other words, Trump threatened maximum pain and dialed it back just enough to soothe nerves. Tariffs are still in place — they’re just a pill that’s now a bit easier to swallow.

The easier tariff pitch

It’s not a coincidence that Trump is standing firmer on reciprocal tariffs than sector- or country-specific tariffs he’s previously floated. Even though he’s opened the door to more flexibility, it’s highly unlikely he’ll postpone “Liberation Day.”

With reciprocal tariffs, matching countries’ import taxes dollar for dollar, he has perhaps the easiest pitch to make for reciprocal tariffs. To use Trump’s verbiage: If they charge us, we charge them.

Those are easy to understand for most Americans — an issue of fairness that many folks can get behind as opposed to across-the-board punitive tariffs on countries or products.

“We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world,” Trump said Monday in a Cabinet meeting.

“Framing tariff hikes as a corrective to abusive practices by US trading partners — essentially giving them a taste of their own medicine — seems much easier to justify than sectoral tariffs with only nebulous connections to their proposed justification,” Grabow said. On top of which, “reciprocal tariffs can be framed as a means to achieve an overall lowering of trade barriers, while the proposed sectoral tariffs cannot,” he said.

Indeed, India, which has higher tariff rates on US imports compared to what the US taxes its exports, is preparing to lower tariff rates ahead of April 2, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Selling a 10 and delivering a 6

Trump developed a pattern of selling a 10/10 worst-case scenario for tariffs and the impact they could end up having on the economy. But the 6/10 tariffs he tends to end up delivering aren’t anything to shrug off just simply because they aren’t as bad as they could’ve been.

For example, the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods are still creating a lot of headaches for businesses that source goods from there and could soon translate into higher prices consumers pay.

Consumers aren’t tuning out tariffs, though. On Tuesday, the Conference Board reported consumer confidence plunged to the lowest level since January 2021 this month. The group said concerns about tariffs were front and center for consumers, helping drive levels lower.

But no matter how bad economic data gets, Trump’s not going to slam the brakes on tariffs.

“As a self-described ‘tariff man’ who has long seemed enamored with import duties, we should assume that Trump’s desire for higher tariffs is sincere and more than just a negotiating ploy,” Grabow said.

That said, Trump may still have to work on selling them a bit better.

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum

President Donald Trump on Monday imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States with no exceptions or exemptions.

Although the United States gets most of its steel from Canada, Brazil and Mexico, the tariffs are largely — albeit indirectly — aimed at China.

“This is a big deal — making America rich again,” Trump said in announcing the tariffs, according to a pool report.

America imports very little steel directly from China, by far the world’s largest producer of steel. Steel tariffs of 25% launched in Trump’s first administration and continued by former President Joe Biden resulted in American importers shifting to other sources.

Yet Chinese steel does make its way into the United States secondhand. Some is purchased by foreign countries and reshipped to the US. And some of it is mislabeled and resold through various channels.

The United States is not the manufacturing-focused economy it once was, but it still consumes tens of millions of tons of steel and aluminum a year. Steel is a key component of everything from consumer goods such as cars and appliances to such large scale infrastructure projects, such as skyscrapers, oil rigs and pipelines, bridges and roads. Aluminum also is a key components of such goods as cans of food and beverages, cars and commercial jets, as well as and key infrastructure such as high power electrical lines.

Tariffs could increase the cost of production of many if not all of those items because of the increased cost of the imported and domestic steel – and aluminum makers could raise the price of their products because of the reduced competition from low-priced imports.

The weight and cost of shipping steel and aluminum have always given domestic producers something of a edge on import sources. American steel mills produce about three times as much steel as is imported here.

When the Trump administration put tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum in place in 2018, it briefly cut imports and increased domestic production. But many customers of imported steel and aluminum still found it necessary to import those goods from lower priced producers elsewhere. Those actions also ignited a trade war that hit American goods with retaliatory tariffs that raised prices on other items for consumers.

Some buyers who had been purchasing steel from countries hit with tariffs, such as China, shifted to steelmakers in other markets, such as Canada, which is now the largest source of American steel imports with about 23% of the steel shipped here. China has fallen to 10th place, with less than 2% of steel exports here.

Steel imports fell by 10.2 million tons, or 27%, between 2017, the year before the tariffs, and 2019, according to analysis of government data provided by the American Iron and Steel Institute, an industry trade group. Domestic steel production rose, but only by 6.8 million tons, or 7.5%.

The boost in domestic steel production proved short lived. Both domestic production and imports fell in 2020 as the pandemic cut the demand for steel greatly. While it has come part of the way back since then, domestic production has still not reached the pre-tariffs level of 2017, let alone the pre-pandemic output.

A Trump administration official said the new tariffs on steel, though holding at 25%, were designed to eliminate loopholes and numerous exemptions that have led some importers to game the system. For example, the official said some countries will import semifinished steel, make it into a slightly more finished product, and ship that to the United States to skirt tariffs.

While aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump told reporters he was planning the steel and aluminum announcement and that he intended to hold a news conference this week to introduce new reciprocal tariffs.

Just last week, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports to the US, adding to existing tariffs on China. In retaliation, China quickly imposed tariffs on certain chips and metals.

Trump has, however, started easing some of these measures, including pausing tariffs on goods valued at $800 or less coming into the US until the Commerce Department can develop a tracking system. He has also suspended his 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada until at least March 1.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

US Postal Service suspends incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong

The US Postal Service says it has suspended the acceptance of incoming international parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice, threatening the business models of e-commerce giants Shein and Temu.

It did not provide a reason for the suspension, but said in a statement Tuesday the flow of letters will not be affected. The Postal Service did not provide any additional information on the suspension when contacted by CNN.

The announcement comes just days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that terminated the “de minimis” exemption, a long-standing rule that allowed anyone, including exporters, to ship packages worth less than $800 to the United States without duties or needing to undergo inspections.

It also follows the introduction of a broad-based 10% tariff on Chinese imports to the US, which took effect on Tuesday.

CNN has reached out to other international delivery companies DHL and FedEx for comment.

The new rule is likely to affect e-commerce sites like Shein and Temu, which have built their gargantuan business models around this exemption. The relaxed restrictions and tax exemptions on cheap products have allowed more than a billion packages to pour into the US at low prices for consumers looking for deals on clothing to household goods.

CNN has also reached out to Shein and Temu for comment.

The termination will hit Chinese shipments the hardest, as nearly half of all packages shipped under the de minimis exemption originated there, Reuters reported, citing a June 2023 report by a US congressional committee on the country.

Beijing has retaliated against the new Trump tariffs with a broad package of economic measures on Tuesday, including a 15% tax on certain types of coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars, and pickup trucks. The measures will take effect on February 10.

It also imposed new export controls targeting over two dozen metal products and related technologies, and added two American firms, biotech company Illumina and fashion retailer PVH Group, to its unreliable entities list.

On Tuesday, Trump indicated he was in “no rush” to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to defuse growing trade tensions, despite saying a day before that the two leaders could speak in the next 24 hours.

While it is unclear whether the de minimis suspension was related to the executive order, experts have told CNN the delivery of international parcels into the US would be “slowed down” if every package must be examined.

Currently, US Customs and Border Protection has the authority to open and inspect all international packages, though in practice it doesn’t open every single item.

This story has been updated with additional information and context.

CNN’s Simone McCarthy and Rashard Rose contributed reporting.

NEWS FROM: CNN BUSINESS

With stiff tariffs he promised now in place, Trump opens a new trade war

CNN — 

On Friday afternoon, around the same time a delegation of senior Canadian officials was preparing to meet with President Donald’s Trump’s border czar in a bid to stave off withering new tariffs, Trump himself essentially told them from afar: Don’t bother.

“No,” he said when asked by a reporter in the Oval Office if there was anything Canada, Mexico or China could do to forestall the new tariffs he’d promised to apply by February 1. “Not right now.”

Twenty-four hours later, he made good.

From his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday — after a round of golf nearby — Trump signed new 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along with lower 10% tariffs on China, setting the stage for a continental trade war among the United States’ top trading partners. Included in his order is a retaliation clause — all but guaranteeing the tariff rates could rise, given both Mexico and Canada have vowed reprisals.

After threatening for months to impose steep tariffs on the United States’ neighbors, Trump’s decision to impose the stiff new duties should hardly come as a surprise. Still, until the final hours before Trump’s start-of-month deadline, many on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill – not to mention in Ottawa and Mexico City – held out hope he might back off.

The delegation of senior Canadian officials had been in Washington for several days, meeting with various administration officials – including border czar Tom Homan – to try to avert the imposition of 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods that Trump had promised for February 1.

Traveling across Washington armed with videos and documents showing a reinforced US-Canada border, Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly hoped to demonstrate the steps her country had taken to fulfill Trump’s demands that more be done to stop flows of illegal immigration.

Yet it has never been particularly clear what Canada and Mexico could do specifically to avoid the new tariffs – least of all to those country’s negotiators, who spent most of January working to ascertain what, if anything, they could do to appease Trump’s demands.

By the time Trump signed the tariffs Saturday afternoon, a top aide suggested nothing less than a complete stop in illegal immigration and an end to US fentanyl deaths would satisfy Trump’s demands.

“There’s going to be a wide range of metrics. In Donald Trump’s golden age, we will have only legal immigration, and we will have zero Americans dying from Chinese slash Mexican slash Canadian fentanyl,” the White House official said.

And at the end of a week that saw the first major retreat of Trump’s second administration – on a budget office order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, which was rescinded after widespread confusion and chaos – there was little question in the minds of many Trump allies that he would follow through on his tariff pledge in some capacity.

“We’re not looking for a concession,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. “We’ll just see what happens.”

Trump’s declaration he wasn’t looking for concessions hardly seemed like the final word on the matter. When he first warned in November of his plans to levy tariffs, he said they would “remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

Fulfilling a MAGA campaign pledge

Saturday’s moves are likely to thrust open a new trade battle, one being waged on issues that have little to do with trade itself. Instead, Trump appears intent on using tariffs as a weapon to enact his domestic policies: curbing flows of undocumented migrants and drugs into the United States.

Few inside the White House ever believed Trump would let his own February 1 deadline come and go without doing anything.

Tariffs, after all, are one of the few policies Trump has consistently supported for decades, a rare through-line from his days as a New York developer to his time in public office (another is immigration). As a candidate, he swore he’d use tariffs – “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” – to wield US leverage abroad.

Well before he was officially sworn in, Trump offered little indication he would back away from his threats. Business executives hoping to talk him out of his plans got little traction, and Trump advisers bluntly said the president was unlikely to alter course.

A 12-hour episode last weekend also proved illustrative for the president and his team. After the president imposed crushing tariffs on Colombia following its president’s refusal to accept repatriation flights of deportees on military planes, the country retreated almost immediately. The quick back-down demonstrated the effectiveness of tariffs as a negotiating tool, officials said.

Saturday’s tariffs amount to a starting gun on what could escalate into a global trade war, with the potential for higher costs, disrupted supply chains and a loss of jobs. The duties he approved Saturday have a lower 10% rate on Canadian energy, a tacit acknowledgement that the tariffs could lead to higher gas prices. Even Trump acknowledged the potential for adverse consequences on American consumers.

“There could be some temporary, short-term disruption, and people will understand that,” Trump said Friday when pressed by reporters on the cost of tariffs being passed on to importers, and, by extension, consumers. “But the tariffs are going to make us very rich and very strong – and we’re going to treat other countries very fairly.”

Saturday’s tariffs are unlikely to be Trump’s last. The president said himself said in the Oval Office that additional tariffs could come by mid-February on chips, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, copper, oil and gas imports – along with tariffs on the European Union – all threats that few would discount given his willingness to follow through on the North American and China tariffs on Saturday.

Trump himself said in the Oval Office that additional tariffs could come by mid-February on chips, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, copper, oil and gas imports – along with tariffs on the European Union – all threats that few would discount given his willingness to follow through on the North American and China tariffs on Saturday.

Internal disagreement about tariff strategy

Inside the White House, key advisers had advocated for a tough approach in an early demonstration of Trump’s willingness to follow through on one of his top campaign pledges: to use tariffs as a cudgel in order to extract concessions, even from top US allies.

Howard Lutnick, Trump’s incoming commerce secretary and former top executive at the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, had been a key supporter of the maximalist tariff approach, according to people familiar with the matter. Stephen Miller, the influential deputy chief of staff with a broad policy remit, had been another top advocate within the West Wing for a muscular opening salvo in Trump’s tariff policy.

Still, even Lutnick acknowledged during his Senate confirmation hearings this week that offramps existed for Canada and Mexico to avoid the harsh duties Trump had promised.

“If we are your biggest trading partner, show us the respect. Shut your border and end fentanyl coming into this country. So it is not a tariff per se; it is an action of domestic policy,” Lutnick said.

“If they execute it, there will be no tariff,” he said.

Not all of Trump’s economic advisers appeared quite as hawkish. Market-minded officials like Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury secretary, have advocated for a softer approach. Specifically, Bessent advocated for starting tariffs at 2.5% and gradually increasing them, according to the Financial Times – a plan Trump quickly said he would reject.

“No, that would not be acceptable to me,” Trump told reporters. Trump added that he would want it to be “much, much bigger.”

This story and headline have been updated with new reporting.

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

Trump will impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on Saturday, White House says

President Donald Trump will move forward with aggressive new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on Saturday, the White House said, affirming he will stick to his February 1 deadline for the new duties that could have widespread effects on the economy.

“I can confirm that, tomorrow, the February 1 deadline President Trump put into place with a statement several weeks ago continues,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Friday’s briefing.

Canadian officials are expected to meet with White House border czar Tom Homan on Friday in a bid to reach a deal that would stave off the proposed tariffs, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

But asked later Friday in the Oval Office whether Canada, Mexico and China could do anything to stop the implementation of the tariffs, Trump said, “No.”

The White House’s confirmation of the new tariffs appeared to end speculation on whether the president would follow through on the pledge he made as a candidate to levy the new duties.

Leavitt said the tariffs would amount to a 25% duty on Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on China “for illegal fentanyl they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans.”

“These are promises made and promises kept by the president,” she said.

She didn’t provide any details on precisely how the new tariffs would be implemented, only saying that the fine print would be available for public inspection within the next 24 hours. She similarly declined to say whether they will be applied to oil imports or whether additional exemptions will be included.

“Eventually we’re going to put tariffs on chips. We’re going to put tariffs on oil and gas. That’ll happen fairly soon,” Trump said later in the day, suggesting “around” February 18.

“We’re going to be putting tariffs on steel, aluminum, and ultimately copper. Copper will take a little longer, but it will happen quickly,” Trump said.

Trump also announced intentions to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals, calling it part of a broader strategy to revive US industries.

“We’re going to build a tariff wall to bring pharmaceuticals back to America,” he said. “The way to do that is by putting up a wall— a tariff wall.”

Placing significant tariffs on the United States’ biggest trading partners serves as a gamble that taxing American companies for imported goods will ultimately punish the countries that make stuff Americans want — and bring those nations to the negotiating table. But it’s a risky bet that could easily backfire on American consumers and the economy.

“There could be some temporary, short-term disruption, and people will understand that,” Trump said when pressed by reporters on the cost of tariffs being passed on to consumers.

Trump earlier this week dismissed the idea that American consumers were reliant on imports from its two North American neighbors.

“We don’t need what they have,” Trump said, referring to Canada and Mexico.

Economists largely believe that, in limited circumstances, tariffs can be effective tools for economic growth. Trump has used and promised to employ tariffs for three primary purposes: to raise revenue, to bring trade into balance and to bring rival countries to the negotiating table.

Trump has said he wants Canada and Mexico to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants and illegal drugs into the United States. And for China, Trump has said tariffs would be aimed at forcing the country to make good on what he said was a stated promise to him that the government would execute people caught sending fentanyl to the United States.

Mexico’s president said Friday that her country was awaiting any potential US tariffs with a “cool head.”

“We have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C for whatever the US government decides. It is very important for the people of Mexico to know that we will always defend our people’s dignity, our sovereignty, and engage in dialogue as equals,” President Claudia Sheinbaum told journalists at a daily news conference.

“No one — on either side of the border — wants to see American tariffs on Canadian goods,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday afternoon in a statement on X.

“I met with our Canada-U.S. Council today. We’re working hard to prevent these tariffs, but if the United States moves ahead, Canada’s ready with a forceful and immediate response,” he added.

A delegation of senior Canadian officials has been in Washington for several days, meeting with various administration officials to try to avert the imposition of 25% tariffs. And Canada’s behind-the-scenes effort could turn into a full-court press if the levies go into effect. Premiers from all of Canada’s provinces — led by Ontario Premier Doug Ford — are planning to travel to Washington on February 12 for a larger mission.

Tariffs in certain circumstances do not cause inflation problems. Trump’s first-term tariffs did not meaningfully raise inflation, although they were far narrower in scope than what he is currently proposing, and the Covid-19 pandemic skewed some of the inflationary aspects of the tariffs — many of which remained in place during the Biden administration.

But mainstream economists largely agree that tariffs cause inflation. That’s because importers — not the countries exporting the goods — pay the tax, and they typically pass that cost onto consumers in the form of higher prices. New research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics suggests Trump’s aggressive tariff campaign will force American consumers to pay more for practically everything — from foreign-made sneakers and toys to food.

Trump’s proposed tariffs could add $272 billion a year to tax burdens, according to Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay Cross-Border Solutions. The Peterson Institute has estimated Trump’s proposed tariffs would cost the typical US household over $2,600 a year.

Still, some proponents of Trump’s plan say the risk is worth the reward. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, last week told CNBC that if tariffs cause a little inflation but address a national security issue, then people should “get over it.”

Tariffs far more sweeping than Trump’s first term

The proposed tariffs expected on Saturday would hit a far wider range of goods than anything Trump has previously imposed.

During his first term, Trump’s tariffs hit roughly $380 billion of foreign goods, according to estimates from the Tax Foundation. The proposed tariffs on the nation’s three largest trading partners would hit about $1.4 trillion of imported goods, if there are no exemptions, the Tax Foundation said.

The figures underscore how aggressive and risky Trump’s tariffs would be, especially given how much prices have spiked since then.

“The administration is playing with fire,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM.

Brusuelas noted that the vast majority of imported US avocadoes are from Mexico, which faces a 25% tariff. “Go ahead and spike taxes on avocados ahead of the Super Bowl and watch how that turns out,” he said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Kayla Tausche, Matt Egan, Max Saltman, Betsy Klein and Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this story.

 

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

China’s imports will be subject to an additional 10% tariff, and Mexico and China will impose an additional 25% tariff

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products on top of the original tariffs, and impose a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada.

Trump pointed out through his social platform Truth Social on the 25th that he had previously negotiated with China many times on the issue of large quantities of drugs, especially Fentanyl, flowing into the United States – but with little success. Chinese representatives claimed that they would severely punish caught drug traffickers with the maximum penalty (that is, the death penalty), but unfortunately, they have not fulfilled their promise. Drugs are flowing into the United States on an unprecedented scale, mostly through Mexico. Before they stop, the United States will impose an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports on top of the original tariffs.

Trump also said that as we all know, tens of thousands of people are pouring into the United States through Mexico and Canada, bringing with them unprecedented crime and drug problems. A group of thousands of people from Mexico is trying to cross the “open border” of the United States, and it seems impossible to stop it.

Trump said he would sign the necessary documents on January 20, the day he takes office, to impose a 25% tariff on all Mexican and Canadian products imported into the United States and issue an executive order against the United States’ absurd open borders. Tariffs will not be lifted until drugs (especially fentanyl) and all illegal immigrants stop invading the United States.

Trump pointed out that Mexico and Canada have absolute power and can easily solve this long-standing problem. We ask them to exercise this right, and before doing so, they need to pay a very high price!

In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on the 26th, Goldman Sachs China Securities Strategy Chief Kinger Lau said that an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products would be lower than the 20% to 30% originally expected by the market. He predicted that China would offset the impact of increased tariffs on the economy by cutting interest rates, increasing fiscal stimulus packages, and mildly devaluing the renminbi.

During his campaign, Trump threatened to impose a 60% tariff on Chinese imports and a 10-20% tariff on products from other overseas regions. According to calculations, these tariff actions may increase the cost of each iPhone by US$240.

Barron’s reported on November 13 that Census Bureau data showed that the United States imported approximately $4 trillion in goods and services over the past year. Among them, US$433 billion are Chinese goods, and about one-tenth of this (US$42 billion) is smartphones. More than 80% of imported smartphones come from China, and there is not much domestic production capacity in the United States.

Analysis shows that about 45-50% of the cost of each iPhone is related to imported content. If a 60% tariff is levied on these imported contents, it would be equivalent to a tax burden of US$216~240 per iPhone 16, with an effective tax rate of 27~30%.

(Image source: shutterstock)

 

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