Trump trade chief Greer says 55% China tariffs a ‘good status quo’

WASHINGTON – US tariffs on Chinese imports of around 55 per cent are a “good status quo”, but the Trump administration would like to find areas where bilateral trade could increase more freely, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sept 30.

Mr Greer’s comments at the Economic Club of New York indicated there was no immediate move towards lowering US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods ahead of a Nov 10 deadline for the expiration of a trade truce between the world’s two largest economies.

Mr Greer said: “If you ask the President, ‘Do we have a deal with China?’ He would say, ‘Yeah, this is our deal. I’ve got 55 per cent tariffs on it. That’s the deal.’ So that is a good status quo.”

But he said he wanted to continue regular discussions with Chinese officials to try to achieve a more balanced trade relationship, where the two sides could increase trade in “non-sensitive goods” such as US agriculture products and Chinese consumer goods.

“I would like to get to a position with them where... we can trade, and we can trade a little more freely and in a little more transparent kind of way,” Mr Greer said.

“But for now, that’s where we are,” he added regarding the 55 per cent US tariff rate, including Mr Trump’s first term tariffs on Chinese goods and China’s corresponding rate of more than 10 per cent on US imports.

Unless US and Chinese officials agree to extend these rates, they are due to snap back to about 145 per cent on the US side and 125 per cent on the Chinese side on Nov 10 – rates that would virtually halt all US-China trade.

During mid-September talks in Madrid on trade and Chinese video app TikTok, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng had sought US tariff reductions in exchange for ceding ownership control of TikTok to a US-based consortium, a concession that Mr Greer and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected.

Mr Greer said Chinese negotiators have been “feeling their oats a little bit more” due to China’s leverage over global supplies of rare earth minerals and magnets, and that they have made more demands.

He also noted that China’s more abrasive “wolf warrior ethos” in diplomacy in recent years is bleeding into US-China economic relations and has put a “political edge” on talks that were more technical in the past.

“But we’re, you know, we’re working through it. We’re meeting with them frequently,” Mr Greer said.

He added that there is a lot of respect on both sides and strong communication is helping to avoid policy surprises on both sides. REUTERS