Trumps new 10% tariffs on China take effect Beijing announces retaliatory import tax

New tariffs on China went into effect Tuesday as part of President Trump’s effort to use trade measures to halt the flow of fentanyl into America – and Beijing retaliated by announcing its own import tax on the US.The 10% additional tariff on imported Chinese goods came into force at 12:01 a.m., hours after the leaders of Mexico and Canada were able to negotiate a 30-day pause on the implementation of massive, 25% duties on goods bound for the US. Trump, 78, declared last week that the fentanyl crisis in America constituted a “national emergency” and that he would use his authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose additional tariffs on China. The goal is to get Chinese officials to crackdown on the flow of precursor chemicals from China to criminal cartels that use fentanyl to manufacture deadly drugs for the US market. “Access to the American market is a privilege,” read a White House statement on the tariff announcement, arguing that import taxes are a “powerful, proven source of leverage for protecting the national interest.”“President Trump is using the tools at hand and taking decisive action that puts Americans’ safety and our national security first.” Shortly after the tariffs on China went into effect, Beijing’s commerce ministry said the country would impose a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas imported from the US.Those retaliatory tariffs will come into force next Monday, China said.Several Republican congressional lawmakers have accused the Chinese Communist Party of deliberately exporting fentanyl to undermine the US.Fentanyl – produced largely in China and smuggled over US land borders and through the international shipping and mail systems – has killed at least 281,000 Americans over the last four years, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In addition to fentanyl, Trump has objected to the $279.4 billion US trade deficit...