By Liz Lee and Shi Bu, Reuters
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (File photo)
Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump has targeted top economic rival China with a cascade of tariff orders on billions of dollars of imported goods aimed at narrowing a wide trade deficit, bringing back lost manufacturing and crippling the fentanyl trade.
The timeline below shows the development of the US – China trade war this year:
January 21 – A day after taking office, Trump threatens 10 percent punitive duty on Chinese imports, citing fentanyl flowing from China.
February 1 – Trump imposes 10 percent on goods from China along with 25 percent on Mexico and Canada, demanding they curb the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants into the US.
February 4 – China responds with a wide range of measures targeting US businesses including Google, farm equipment makers and the owner of fashion brand Calvin Klein.
Beijing also slaps levies of 15 percent on imports of US coal and LNG and 10 percent for crude oil and some autos, beginning February 10. It also restricted exports of five metals used in defence, clean energy and other industries.
March 3 – The US doubles fentanyl-related tariffs on all Chinese imports, increasing levies to 20 percent, effective March 4.
March 4 – China hits back with 10-15 percent retaliatory levies on US agriculture exports, affecting about $21 billion in US exports. Beijing also imposed export and investment curbs on 25 US firms, on grounds of national security and banned imports of genetic sequencers from US medical equipment maker Illumina.
April 2 – Trump escalates global trade friction with sweeping “liberation day” tariffs, announcing a baseline 10 percent across all imports and significantly higher duties on some countries. Trump levies 34 percent on all Chinese goods, to take effect on April 9.
The Trump administration also decides to end duty-free access for low-value shipments from China and Hong Kong, known as “de minimis” exemptions, from May 2.
April 4 – China announces retaliatory tariffs of 34 percent on all US imports from April 10 and export curbs on some rare earths. It imposed restrictions on about 30 US organisations, mostly in defence-related industries.
Beijing also suspends sorghum, poultry and bone meal shipments from some US firms.
April 8 – The US raises tariff on all Chinese imports to 84 percent from 34 percent.
April 9 – China raises levies on US imports to 84 percent too, and added 12 US companies to a control list that prohibits exports of dual-use items and another six to its “unreliable entities” list, which allows Beijing to take punitive actions against foreign entities.
The US further hikes tariffs on Chinese imports to 125 percent from 84 percent. China warns its citizens against travelling to the US.
April 10 – China announces it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films.
April 11 – China also raises levies on imports of US goods to 125 percent, dismissing the Trump tariff strategy as “a joke” and indicated it will ignore any further US “numbers game with tariffs”.
April 15 – Chipmaker Nvidia discloses that US officials had informed it that its H20 chip would require an export licence for sales to China.
May 10-12 – Beijing and Washington hold trade talks over the weekend in Geneva. Both sides released a joint statement agreeing to a 90-day pause on tariffs.
The temporary truce meant US tariffs on China will fall to 30 percent from 145 percent, while China tariffs on the US drop to 10 percent from 125 percent. China also committed to removing non-tariff countermeasures imposed against the US since April 2.
May 28-29 – US says will start “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students. It also orders a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods covering semiconductors, design software and aviation equipment to China.
May 31 – Trump says China violated agreement reached in Geneva to mutually roll back tariffs and ease Chinese curbs on critical minerals exports. China rejects the accusation, saying U.S. had introduced multiple “discriminatory restrictive” measures against China.
June 5 – Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump hold an hour-long phone call.
June 9-10 – US and China hold a new round of talks in London and reach a framework agreement.
June 11-12 – Some Chinese rare earths magnet producers begin to receive export licences. Trump says trade truce is back on track.
June 27 – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says US and China have resolved issues around rare earth minerals and magnets shipments to the US.
July 6 – Trump threatens an additional 10 percent tariff on countries he said were aligning themselves with the “Anti-American policies” of BRICS, which includes China.
July 15 – US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says Nvidia plans to resume sales of its advanced AI H20 chips to China as part of US negotiations on rare earths, reversing a US export ban in April.
July 28-29 – US and Chinese officials agree to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce after two days of talks in Stockholm. Both sides described the talks as constructive, but no major breakthroughs were announced.
August 1 – Bessent believes Washington has makings of a deal with China and says is “optimistic” about the path forward.
August 8 – US starts issuing licences to Nvidia to export H20 chips to China.
August 10 – Trump urges China to quadruple its soybean purchases from the US as the expiration of the trade truce looms on August 12.
August 11 – US and China extend their tariff truce for another 90 days.
September 4-13 – Trump and his administration urge the G7, EU and NATO countries to pressure China and impose tariffs of 50 percent to 100 percent to cut off Russian oil revenue.
September 14 – Bessent and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng lead a fourth round of talks in Madrid to address trade ties as well as TikTok’s looming divestiture deadline on September 17.
September 15 – US and China reach a framework agreement to switch TikTok to US-controlled ownership, a decision to be confirmed in a call between Trump and Xi later in the week.
Bessent says Trump administration will not impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods over Russian oil imports unless European countries launch tariffs first.
– Reuters