Hours after the US and Iran failed to reach an agreement during peace talks in Pakistan, President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) renewed his threats against Iran and also targeted China.
It comes after reports citing US intelligence said Beijing was reportedly preparing to send weapons to Tehran amid a fragile two-week ceasefire that was announced on Tuesday (local time).
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said, “I doubt they would … but if we catch them doing it, they’re going to get a 50% tariff, which is a staggering amount.”
Trump warns countries with 50% tariffs
His remarks came days after the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. Following the announcement, Trump threatened in a Truth Social post to impose immediate 50 percent tariffs, without exemptions, on countries that supply weapons to Tehran. He wrote: “A country supplying military weapons to Iran will immediately be hit with a 50% tariff on all goods sold to the United States of America. There will be no exemptions or exemptions!”
While Trump threatened those countries, he did not specify what legal authority would be used to impose such tariffs. The US Supreme Court in February struck down his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose broad global tariffs, prompting a lower court to order the return of some $166 billion collected over the year, Al Jazeera reported.
What did the US intelligence report reveal?
A CNN report, citing sources, said China plans to deliver new air defense systems to Iran in the next few weeks, adding that Tehran may use the two-week ceasefire to replenish certain weapons systems with the help of its key foreign partners. U.S. intelligence has said Beijing may route shipments through a third country to conceal their true origin. Beijing is reportedly preparing to deliver shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS), which have threatened low-flying US aircraft during the five-week war and could pose a similar asymmetric risk if a ceasefire breaks out.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington denied the report, saying Beijing had never provided weapons to any side in the conflict, adding that “the information in question is false.”
“As a responsible major country, China consistently fulfills its international obligations. We call on the US side to refrain from baseless accusations, malicious inferences, and engaging in sensationalism; we hope the relevant parties will do more to help de-escalate tensions,” he further noted.
US-China ties
The CNN report, citing US intelligence, comes as Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing next month to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. US-China relations witnessed turmoil last year when Trump announced reciprocal tariffs and slapped a 30 percent tariff on China. Following Trump’s decision, Beijing imposed its own tariffs, a move that rattled global financial markets after fears of a tariff war between the two powers flared. At one point, the U.S. imposed a 125 percent tariff on China, which was later reduced after talks between officials from both sides. From April 2026, Washington imposed 10-15 percent tariffs on China.
