The White House issued a fresh clarification on Wednesday following assertions that some US imports from China were now facing a 245% tariff. The Donald Trump-led administration had imposed a 145% tariff against the other country last week amid a series of tit-for-tat measures. This will be in addition to tariffs between 7.5% and 100% that are now being levied on specific goods. Meanwhile Beijing has sought ‘specific tax rate figures’ from Washington and insisted that their countermeasures were completely “reasonable and legal”.
Confusion arose late on Tuesday as a White House fact sheet insisted that China now faced “up to a 245% tariff on imports to the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions”. The US government had claimed until yesterday that China was facing 145% tariffs comprising of a 125% reciprocal levy and a separate previously imposed 20% tariff to address the fentanyl crisis.
The latest addendum indicates that certain items will indeed face the astronomical levy while others remain at the previously introduced 145% level — at least for the moment.
Reports indicate that there are now four main categories of tariffs being imposed on goods from China, including those enforced before Trump took over the US government in early 2025. The astronomical 245% tariff comes from a protectionist levy that was introduced during the first Trump presidency and expanded under Joe Biden. The charge is intended to protect US industries and ranges from 7.5% to 100%.
The US also has a long-standing base rate tax of 3.4% on average that applies to imports from the world. Aside from the ‘fentanyl’ and ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, Trump has also imposed a worldwide 25% levy on import of steel, aluminum and auto.