Trump Implements Import Tariffs To Additional Chinese Product Customs Starting March 4

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said the 25% tariff he proposed for Mexican and Canadian goods would take effect on March 4 as scheduled as illegal drugs still flow to the US from those countries.

Trump also said he would impose 10% additional duties on Chinese goods outside the 10% tariff he imposed on February 4 for imports from China.

Trump said illegal drugs were still flowing into the US at a very high and unacceptable rate, and most of them were lethal opioid fentanyl.

"We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the United States, and therefore, until this scourge stops, or is completely limited, the proposed tariffs scheduled to take effect on March 4 will take effect on schedule," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social.

"China will also be subject to an additional 10% tariff on that date," he continued.

The statement eliminates confusion on Wednesday about the deadline for applying tariffs to Canadian and Mexican goods Trump threatened with the fentanyl crisis and security of the US border.

Trump's remarks on the matter at his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday appear to suggest Trump may be delaying a deadline of about a month until April 4.

Comments from Trump administration officials show April's deadline is for Trump's reciprocal rate which complies with other countries' import duty rates and offsets other restrictions.

Its trading advisors consider the value-added tax in European countries to be the same as tariffs.

Kevin Hassett, White House's economic adviser, told CNBC Trump television he would set a new rate after the study was completed on April 1.