Hours after the US and Iran failed to reach an agreement during peace talks in Pakistan, President on Sunday (local time) renewed his threats against Iran and targeted China as well.
This came after news reports citing the US intelligence said that Beijing is reportedly preparing to ship weapons to Tehran amid a fragile two-week ceasefire which was announced Tuesday (local time).
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said, “I doubt they would do that… but if we catch them doing that, they 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 . Following the announcement, Trump, in a Truth Social post, threatened to impose immediate 50 percent tariffs with no exemptions on countries that would supply Tehran with weapons. He wrote, “A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the of America, 50%, effective immediately. There will be no exclusions or exemptions!”
While he threatened the countries, Trump did not specify which legal authority would be invoked to impose such tariffs. The US 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 refunds of some $166bn collected over the course of a year, Al Jazeera reported.
What did the US intelligence report reveal?
A CNN report citing sources said that is planning to deliver new air defense systems to Iran in the next few weeks, adding that Tehran may be using the two-week ceasefire to replenish certain weapon systems with the help of its crucial foreign partners. The US intelligence reported that Beijing might route the shipments via a third country to mask their true origin. Beijing is reportedly preparing to supply shoulder-fired anti-air missiles (MANPADS), which threatened low-flying US aircraft during the five-week war and could pose a similar asymmetric risk if the ceasefire breaks down.
Denying the report, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that Beijing never provided weapons to any party in the conflict, adding that the “information in question is untrue.”
“As a responsible major country, China consistently fulfills its international obligations. We urge the US side to refrain from making baseless allegations, maliciously drawing connections, and engaging in sensationalism; we hope that relevant parties will do more to help de-escalate tensions,” it noted further.
US-China ties
The CNN report citing the US Intelligence comes at a time when Trump is set to visit Beijing next month to meet his Chinese counterpart, . The US and China’s ties have witnessed turmoil last year, when Trump announced reciprocal tariffs and imposed a 30 percent tariff on China. Following Trump’s decision, Beijing introduced its own tariffs, a move that rattled the global financial markets after fears were stoked of a tariff war between the two powerful countries. At one point, the US imposed a 125 percent tariff on China, which was later slashed after officials from the two sides held negotiations. As of April 2026, Washington has imposed 10-15 percent tariffs on China.
