President-elect Donald Trump has claimed he will be imposing additional tariffs on Chinese exports to the US notwithstanding any tariffs already in place.
President Trump made the announcement in response to what he claims is Chinese negligence regarding the fentanyl trafficking originating from China.
“I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail,” said Trump. “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.”
Consequently, Trump stated the US ”will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.”
The US currently subjects sundry Chinese goods to tariffs including electric vehicles, electric vehicle batteries, battery parts, respirators and face masks, syringes and needles, ship-to-shore gantry cranes, solar panel cells and modules, steel and aluminum products, and certain critical minerals.
However, as the fentanyl crisis within the US worsens, conservatives have blamed China for not doing enough to combat Chinese manufacturers of the drug and have urged the US government to enact retaliatory measures.
Lawmakers like Florida Representative Aaron Bean (R), for example, have told The Floridian press more needs to be done to counteract Chinese fentanyl trafficking.
Representative Bean described speaking with two families who had lost a loved one to the notoriously deadly drug.
"Their kid was not a drug addict, did not have a problem. Took one pill, one pill [emphasis his], [and] never woke up. One of them was in college, and his roommate said, 'Hey, I have a cold. I need help sleeping. Why don't I take this? Thought it was a cold medicine, took it, never woke up," Bean described.
Over 200,000 Americans have died from fentanyl usage during the last four years.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson rejected Trump’s proposed 10% tariff, commenting that the United States should instead "cherish China's goodwill and maintain the hard-won good situation of China-US anti-drug cooperation."
