The White House announced Monday that China will face increased tariffs, citing the ongoing fentanyl crisis in the US as the main reason for the decision.
In a post on X, the Quick Response 47 account shared the text of the Executive Order (EO) signed by President Donald Trump on Monday. The Chinese government will now face 20% tariffs “we have failed to address the fentanyl poured into our country,” EO said.
The tariffs on China, which originally only had 10%, come into effect on Tuesday. In an order Monday, Trump said the Chinese government “failed to blunt the sustained influx of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.” [their country]”And such failure constitutes a “abnormal and extraordinary threat.”
Trump also said the crisis puts “US national security, foreign policy and the economy.”
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President Donald Trump will impose a 20% tariff on Chinese imports, citing the ongoing fentanyl crisis as the reason for his decision. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo | istock)
“I decided that [People’s Republic of China] “We have not taken appropriate measures to alleviate the illegal drug crisis through cooperative enforcement measures and the crisis mentioned in Executive Order 14195 has not been mitigated,” the order read.
“Recognizing the fact that the PRC has not taken appropriate measures to alleviate the illegal drug crisis, Section 2(a) of Executive Order 14195 is amended by typing the word “10 percent” and by inserting it in place of the word “20 percent.” ”
The Trump administration has already imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods announced last month, and will come into effect on Tuesday. On Monday, White House senior counselor in trade and manufacturing, Peter Navarro defended tariffs on CNBC, claiming the issue “started with its predecessor chemicals and communist China.”
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President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025 at his oval office in the White House in Washington, D.C. (Pool)
“It comes to Mexico and they make fentanyl. But they also have these tablet presses, so they're falsifying,” Navarro explained. “And they use Canada as a transportation hub and also use secondary points to manufacture. So this is from Canadaxico-China.”
The Chinese government has been opposed to tariffs since its announcement. In a statement on February 1, China's Foreign Ministry argued that China is “one of the toughest countries in the world, both in terms of policy and implementation.”
President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday, February 28, 2025, before riding the Marines in Washington, DC, and Washington, DC. (Aldrago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“Additional tariffs are not constructive and will be bound to affect and harm future counter-catic cooperation between the two parties,” the statement read. “China calls on the US to correct fraud, maintain the struggling and hoped positive dynamics in counteralcotics cooperation, and promote stable, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations.”
Anders Hagstrom from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
