Trump suggests tariffs against nations including China over illegal immigration

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he may impose tariffs on countries, including China, that do not curb the flow of undocumented immigrants from their territory to the United States, if he wins the U.S. election in November.

Trump made the remarks at an event in the border election battleground state of Arizona while responding to an audience question and did not specify the size of tariff he would impose in such a scenario.

Asked about ways he would curb the flow of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally, Trump said: "We have tremendous economic power." Trump said if a country, such as China, does not help to curb the flow of immigrants into the U.S., "we have these things called tariffs."

Trump warned if other countries do not help to reduce it, then he could "tariff the hell out of that country" if re-elected.

Border security and immigration have emerged as top issues for Americans in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election where Trump will face U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in a rematch of their 2020 White House contest.

The majority of people crossing into the U.S. illegally are from Latin America. According to U.S. government data the U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 27,000 Chinese migrants caught illegally crossing the border with Mexico from Oct. 1, 2023-April 30, 2024, part of a sharp increase in Chinese arrivals.

It was Trump's first campaign event since a Manhattan jury on May 30 found him guilty on all 34 counts he faced of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election for her silence about a sexual encounter she says they had.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing