What was promised
There are two promises we can break this down into. Both were made a year apart.
In Feb 2023 Trump said in a video on his Agenda47 page: We will revoke China's Most Favored Nation trade status, and adopt a 4-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods - everything from electronics to steel to pharmaceuticals." The plan would include "strong protections" against Chinese goods being routed through other countries.
Trump wasn't the one who said 60%. The Washington Post had claimed Trump wanted a blanket 60% tariff on Chinese goods. When asked about this on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox in Feb 2024 Trump said according to Fortune: "no, I would say maybe it's going to be more than that." Trump believed that starting a trade war wasn't something he'd be worried about as he "did great with China with everything".
What's happened since
Early 2025: way past 60%. Trump quickly implemented a 10% tariff on China within his first few weeks. Raised to 20% in March and as both sides fired back in April it was increased to 54%, 104% and 145% on the 9th April. At this point PolitiFact called this a "Promise Kept". Due to some exclusions the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) estimates that US tariffs on Chinese goods averaged 126.1% as of early May.
May 2025: the first climbdown. It wouldn't last long. After negotiations in Geneva the US lowered tariffs from those imposed in late April starting 14th May and paused the majority of tariffs for 90 days leaving them with a 10% "reciprocal" tariff. This would bring the average tariff down to 51.7% according to PIIE.
October 2025: a truce. Trump threatened to increase tariffs by another 100% in October. After meeting with Xi in Busan Korea on the 30th of October he reduced the 20% fentanyl tariff by half. Telling journalists this would bring it down to 47% total from what AP said was 57%. The White House dubbed the agreement "a massive victory" after China agreed to purchase soy beans and loosen restrictions on exporting rare earth elements.
February 2026: the Supreme Court. The supreme court ruled that the law used to enforce both the fentanyl tariffs and reciprocal tariffs did not give the President the ability to impose tariffs 6-3. Any other tariffs enforced under different acts stayed in place. PolitiFact changed their verdict to "In the Works". There was a short global tariff that was implemented and since the 24th of July we have seen the new Section 301 tariffs on China due to forced labor. 12.5% for most Chinese goods. According to PIIE the average tariff on Chinese goods was 35.2% as of the 22nd of August. Still below 60% but around 14% higher than when Trump took office.
2026: deals, not decoupling. Trump travelled to China in May and Xi visited America in September. The two countries have advised lowering tariffs on $30bn of products each. Products that the US have advised lowering tariffs on are consumer products i.e. Toys and smaller home appliances. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has stated they will extend the ceasefire by two months until the 10th of January 2027.
The four-year plan. As of Feb 2026 PolitiFact could not find any four year plan released by the white house or any signs of China losing it's most favoured nation status. I haven't been able to find any information on a plan since. A bill was drafted in the House by Republicans and Democrats in Jan 2025 to remove this status but has only made it as far as committee. The House Appropriations Committee voted to ask the United States International Trade Commission to look into removing it from China. They released their findings in August 2026. However imports have decreased from China. According to the Census Bureau the US imported $308.7 Billion of goods from China in 2025 which is roughly a 30% decrease from 2024. I've spotted a 16% decrease from January to August 2026 compared to the same period in 2025 of $183.5 Billion. Imports have started to increase again since Spring. PolitiFact spoke to Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute who said that Trump could "argue that this is a big success" but also stated that countries such as Taiwan and Vietnam who commonly re-export Chinese goods have seen large increases in imports.
Present status
Delivered in part. Trump did go over 60% as he suggested but only managed to keep it there for around 5 weeks before lowering it through negotiations. We are currently averaging 35% after the supreme court decision. Although this is still significantly higher than before he took office and we are seeing fewer imports from China. There is no four year plan to stop importing from China of needful goods. Nor has China lost its most favoured nation status. In 2026 we have seen talks between both countries to reduce tariffs. The four year plan is supposed to run until early 2029.
Opinion
I'm always going to say the same thing about these dumb blanket tariffs - my left tit knows more about how tariffs work than Donald Trump does.
Trump's tariffs are an import tax paid for by Americans, either businesses or individuals, when they import stuff from outside of the USA. The end goal might be noble - have American workers producing American stuff in American factories and therefore stifle the harm that Ronald Reagan's push for globalization did in the 80s and 90s. Realistically, such an endeavour would take decades for the transition to take effect.
Then there's that $2000 tariff rebate check...