General Discussion

It was a tax, that too on tea from China, that led to US independence

With eye on China, President Trump has led the US into a tariff war. However, it was the issue of tax on a Chinese export, tea, that sparked the American Revolution, which ultimately led to the independence of the US from Britain. Yes, we are referring to the Boston Tea Party of 1773 when Chinese tea was dumped into the Atlantic Ocean.

Centuries before made-in-China electronics and toys flooded the American market, prompting US President Donald Trump to resort to a trade war, it was tea from China that lit the fuse. In fact, it was the waiver of what can be considered import tax on Chinese tea that triggered the American Revolutionary War, which ultimately led to the formation of the US.

The irony? Chinese produce, once a catalyst for American Independence, is now at the centre of Trump's trade battles with China. Trump's China tariffs have sent shockwaves through the global economy, striking India particularly hard.

https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/donald-trump-trade-war-tariff-china-boston-tea-party-chinese-tea-east-india-company-american-independence-trump-2775123-2025-08-22



Around 100 members of the Sons of Liberty of Samuel Adams, carried out the Boston Tea Party by dumping 342 chests of Chinese tea into Boston Harbor. (Image: Springfield Museums)