President Donald Trump will "hold China's feet to the fire and stop the unfair trade practices" — even if it means more than doubling tariffs to 25 percent on its imports, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday.
"The goal at the end of the day is to end the unfair trade practices that China has engaged in for decades and that the administrations before this president have ignored," Sanders told reporters at the White House briefing.
Trump on Wednesday ordered U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider raising tariffs to 25 percent, from 10 percent, on $200 billion in Chinese goods amid stalled trade talks between the nations.
With the move, the president hopes to force Beijing back to the negotiation table, though any new tariffs would not take effect before September.
"The president," Sanders told reporters, "will hold China's feet to the fire and stop the unfair trade practices."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.