Updated May 10, 2019 - World

Trump is wrong on how China tariffs work

President Trump speaking in the Rose Garden, with Mike Pence standing next to him.

Photo: Getty Images

President Trump said in a Twitter thread Friday that China is paying billions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury due to tariffs hours after he reignited the trade war with a tariff spike. This is a claim he's made before, including back in January, when he said it twice during a press conference and on Twitter.

Reality check: The tariffs are paid by U.S. importers of affected Chinese goods, not by China's government or by Chinese companies. Importers then either raise costs on consumers, lower their own profit margins or both.

Go deeper