United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Jan 21) that he was discussing with his team imposing a 10 per cent tariff on imports from China, citing that Beijing was sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada.

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He said that the duty could take effect as early as February 1.

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” the president said, speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening.

"Probably February 1st is the date we're looking at," he said on being asked about the date the tariffs will be put in place.

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Also read: Trump could impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico on Feb 1, Ottawa says 'ready to respond'

China says will 'defend national interest'

Responding to the tariff threats, China said that it will defend its "national interests".

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"We have always believed that there are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

She added that Beijing was "willing to maintain communication with the US, properly handle differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations".

Trump spoke to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping days before his swearing-in ceremony. During the telephonic conversation, they discussed trade, fentanyl, and ByteDance Ltd.’s social media app, TikTok.

“We didn’t talk too much about tariffs, other than he knows where I stand,” Trump said Tuesday.

“Look, I put large tariffs on China. I’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars. Until I was president, China never paid not 10 cents to the United States,” he said.

Trump could impose sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb 1

Similar tariff threats were issued by Trump for Canada and Mexico on Monday (Jan 20)

The US president said that he was considering imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico with the possibility of implementation as early as February 1.

"We're thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada because they're allowing vast numbers of people—Canada's a very bad abuser also—vast numbers of people to come in, and fentanyl to come in," he said in the Oval Office as he signed an array of executive orders.

Trump reignited his tariff threats against Canada and Mexico, two major US trading partners, just hours after taking office. He accused them of failing to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the US.

Earlier on Monday, he pledged to "immediately begin the overhaul" of the US trade system "to protect American workers and families."

"Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump said in his inaugural address.

Canada says 'ready to respond'

Top Canadian ministers on Monday said their country is ready to respond if Trump goes ahead with his plan to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico on Feb 1.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said they “will continue to work on preventing tariffs” but said they are also “working on retaliation.”

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that the US president can be unpredictable.

“None of this should be surprising,” he said. “Our country is absolutely ready to respond to any one of these scenarios.”

(With inputs from agencies)