In another salvo to ramp up his trade policy, President Donald Trump shared Feb. 27 that the U.S. will impose a new 10% tariff on imported Chinese goods, citing the supply of China-made fentanyl as the impetus.

The new tariff — set to take effect March 4 — would be stacked on the additional 10% tariff Trump placed on China at the start of February.

PREMIUM: How Will Trump Tariffs Impact Demand & Margins? Here’s What Distributors Told Us

Meanwhile, in a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump reaffirmed his intention to levy broad 25% import tariffs upon Canada and Mexico also on March 4. Those tariffs were originally set to begin Feb. 4 before his administration postponed them for 30 days to enable negotiations.

Earlier on Feb. 27, Trump hinted that the Canada and Mexico tariffs could be pushed back again, telling reporters that they were set for April 2. But the administration backed off from those comments, with a White House official confirming that the March 4 date is moving forward, though talks are ongoing.

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China responded Feb. 28 to the news of the newest 10% tariff, with its Ministry of Commerce saying China firmly opposes the latest trade threat and vowed to take retaliatory measures if needed. China already responded to the first 10% tariff from early February with retaliatory levies of its own.

MDM Tariffs Webcast Breaks it All Down

On Feb. 27, MDM hosted a “Tariff Watch – Implications and Strategies for Distributors” webcast, which detailed the current tariffs situation as of that date and analyzed what distributors can do to navigate the situation and best protect their margins. 

Our panel featured:

• Dan Gardner – President of Trade Facilitators and Co-Founder of Trade XCelerators
• Ranga Bodla – VP of Field Engagement & Marketing at Oracle NetSuite
• Alex Hendrie – VP of Government Relations at NAW
• Mike Hockett – MDM Executive Editor

View the free webcast on-demand here upon registration.