After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump recently reduced the tariffs imposed over the fentanyl issue from 20% to 10%. On the 31st, Trump further stated that once the U.S. sees results from China curbing the flow of fentanyl into the country, “we will remove the remaining 10% tariff.”
According to Central News Agency, the Trump-Xi meeting took place on the 30th in Busan, South Korea. After the meeting, Trump said that the U.S. would lower the additional tariffs placed on China due to fentanyl, while Beijing had pledged to resume purchases of U.S. soybeans, temporarily suspend export controls on rare earths, and work to curb the flow of fentanyl.
Trump had previously imposed a 20% tariff on Chinese goods due to the influx of fentanyl into the U.S. After the Trump-Xi meeting, he announced that tariffs on fentanyl-related items would be immediately reduced to 10%, adding that he believed Xi Jinping would “work very hard to prevent these deadly substances from coming in.”
On the 30th, Trump returned to the U.S., and on the 31st told the media on his presidential plane en route to Florida that he had given China a strong incentive to curb and eliminate the fentanyl problem, and that China was actively addressing it.
He said that he and Xi Jinping had a “great conversation” on this issue. Once the U.S. sees results from China’s efforts to curb fentanyl, the U.S. will remove the additional 10% tariff imposed over fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid analgesic, 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. In recent years, issues related to fentanyl overdoses have surged in the U.S., and since returning to the White House, Trump has vowed to combat fentanyl abuse.
According to Trump, the tariffs currently imposed by the U.S. on Chinese imports have dropped from 57% to 47%.