US President Donald Trump has signaled a major U-turn on his trade war with China, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
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Trump says China tariffs will ‘come down substantially,’ hinting at potential U-turn
US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
Trump made the comments when asked about
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s remarks earlier in the day that the high tariff rates between the United States and China have effectively embargoed trade between the economies.
Bessent said at a private investment conference hosted by JP Morgan Chase that the trade war with China is unsustainable and he expects the battle to de-escalate in the very near future, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
Instead of a hard break or complete decoupling between the United States and China, Bessent told investors that the goal is to have a rebalancing of trade, the source told CNN.
That assessment gave a boost to a Wall Street rally that had taken shape earlier on Tuesday, with all three major US stock indexes hitting their highest levels of the day after Bessent’s remarks were made public.
On Tuesday, Trump again expressed his hope for Xi to come to the negotiation table – and promised to “be very nice.”
Asked if the US was going to play hardball with China or Xi in order to make a deal, or if officials would mention the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump quickly responded: “No.”
“No, no, we’re going to be very nice. They’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens,” the president added. “But ultimately, they have to make a deal, because otherwise they’re not going to be able to deal in the United States, and we want them involved.”
“I think we’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together, so I think it’s going to work out very well,” he said.
