As US President Donald Trump’s tariff increases have roiled global markets and strained America’s alliances in recent months, China has been pursuing the opposite strategy: keeping import duties low and pledging further cuts as a way to secure strategic resources and build ties across the developing world.

China’s average effective tariff rate – calculated by dividing total duties raised by the value of imports – has fallen steadily over the past decade and came to just 1.3 per cent in 2025, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Beijing also promised further cuts last year, pledging to slash duties on imports from most African nations to zero as it sought to offer a contrast to the policies being pursued by the United States.

Meanwhile, the US’ effective tariff rate soared to 11.2 per cent last year – the highest average level since 1943 – according to a January report by the Tax Foundation, a US-based research organisation.

The increase followed months of executive actions by Trump that raised tariffs on dozens of countries, citing a variety of economic and national security issues. Last week, the president threatened to impose additional duties on imports from eight European nations for refusing to support his quest to acquire the Danish territory of Greenland.

For China, applying low or no tariffs has helped ensure that its importers can find eager overseas suppliers of industrial raw materials and fuel, as neither side is obliged to pay duties, according to Xu Tianchen, a senior economist at the EIU.

“China applies low or zero tariff rates to commodities, which account for the lion’s share of its imports,” Xu said, citing crude oil, natural gas and iron ore as three key inputs. “The effective tariff rate … is low and has been falling.”