Trump signs executive order to cut tariffs on Chinese goods by 10 percentage points…effective from the 10th

U.S. President Donald Trump will implement a plan to lower the so-called 'fentanyl tariff' on Chinese-made products from the previous 20% to 10%, effective from the 10th.

According to an executive order released by the White House on the 4th (local time), the tariff rate on China will fall from 57% to 47%.

After taking office in January, President Trump imposed a 20% so-called 'fentanyl tariff' on Chinese imports, citing China's lack of cooperation in blocking the flow of fentanyl, a type of synthetic drug, into the United States.

At the U.S.-China summit held in Busan on the 30th of last month, after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump said China had agreed to cooperate to block fentanyl precursor substances and other items from entering the United States, and that the United States would lower the so-called 'fentanyl tariff' applied to China from the previous 20% to 10%.

According to the executive order, the 'truce' in the U.S.-China dispute over ultra-high tariffs — when both sides were imposing rates of over 100% on each other in April — will also be extended for one year starting on the 10th.

At high-level U.S.-China talks held in Geneva in May, the United States and China agreed that of the additional 125% tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, 91% would be canceled and 24% would be deferred for 90 days.

The two sides extended that deferral by another 90 days in August, and then agreed at the U.S.-China summit to extend it for an additional year.

Yonghyun Shin, Hankyung.com reporter yonghyun@hankyung.com