At 0:50 on March 23, 2018, US President Donald Trump officially signed a memorandum of understanding on trade with China at the White House. It also imposed tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese imports and restricted Chinese companies from making mergers and acquisitions in the United States. Announced that the United States will impose 25 percent tariffs on Chinese aerospace, information and communications technology, machinery and other products.

With the start of the Sino-US trade war, the United States has imposed tariffs on some Chinese goods, including aluminum products, which will make China's aluminum industry will be affected to some extent. "The 232 measures taken by the United States against imported steel and aluminum products abuse the WTO's" security exception "clause, which in essence constitutes a safeguard measure, and its measures only target a few countries, which seriously violates the principle of non-discrimination, which is the cornerstone of the multilateral trading system, and seriously infringes on China's interests," the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said. In the early morning of April 2, Beijing time, China's State Council officially announced the decision to impose tariffs on 128 imported goods originating in the United States in seven categories, and took effect on the same day.