Trump says tariffs on China will come down from 145%

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on May 8 that he expects there to be substantive negotiations between the United States and China on trade this weekend, and predicted that

punitive US tariffs on Beijing of 145 per cent

would likely come down.

Mr Trump’s comments, made at the White House while unveiling the details of a new trade agreement between the US and Britain, represent the latest sign of a softening tone between the world’s two biggest economies, which have been locked in a stand-off over tariffs and trade.

After more than two months of no movement towards a rapprochement, the two sides this week announced

they were sending top officials to Switzerland for talks

this weekend.

Mr Trump’s team, meanwhile, has been working on multiple trade deals after the President paused reciprocal tariffs for most nations to ease a trade war that upended financial markets and US relationships with friends and foes.

He did not pause tariffs on China, however, and terse comments from Washington and Beijing about their dispute have raised questions about the economic ramifications of a long trade war between them.

Mr Trump on May 8 indicated the US could make a move to ease those tensions by reducing the levies, saying “it could be” when asked whether he would consider lowering the rate if talks went well.

“You can’t get any higher. It’s at 145, so we know it’s coming down,” he said. “I think it’s a very friendly meeting. They look forward to doing it in an elegant way.”

This weekend’s talks will involve US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer and China’s economic tsar He Lifeng sitting down in neutral Switzerland, and are seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war disrupting the global economy.

Mr Trump said he believed China very much wanted to make a deal, and that he would like to see it open up its economy.

“I think we’re going to have a good weekend with China. I think they have a lot to gain. I do think they have far more to gain than we do, in a sense,” he said.

Asked if he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping after the talks, Mr Trump said he might.

“I might, yeah, sure,” he said.

Mr Trump has long expressed admiration for Mr Xi, while acknowledging differences on trade and placing blame on China for the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trade has been a particular concern of the US President, however.

He said China had a “tremendous trade surplus” with the US and wanted that to change. “I would like to see China open,” he said.

Mr Trump set an optimistic tone going into the weekend talks. “I think it’s going to be substantive,” he said. “China wants to do something, and look, they have to at this point.”

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on May 9 that China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues.

“We have full confidence,” Ms Hua said during a Beijing-organised trip to Malipo county to showcase China’s efforts to build up rural economies.

“We do not want any kind of war with any country. But we have to face up to the reality. As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties.”

Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a “demand shock” to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere.

“What the United States is doing cannot be sustained,” Ms Hua said. “Ordinary people in the US already feel suffering from the tariff war.”

The US administration will come back to “normal”, she said. REUTERS