US President Donald Trump signalled on Friday that he could lower tariffs on Chinese imports, as the rival superpowers prepare for trade talks over the weekend.
“80% Tariff on China seems right!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, which would bring them down from 145 per cent, with cumulative duties on some goods reaching a staggering 245 per cent.
In his post, Trump did not say if he thought 80 per cent should be the final, definitive level for tariffs on Chinese goods if and when the trade war ends, or an interim status.
He added that it was “Up to Scott B.”, referring to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will confer with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend in Geneva to try to cool the conflict roiling international markets.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will also attend the talks.
“The President still remains with his position that he is not going to unilaterally bring down tariffs on China. We need to see concessions from them as well,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters later Friday.
“As for the 80 percent number, that was a number the president threw out there. And we’ll see what happens this weekend,” she added.
The cripplingly high duties amount to an effective trade embargo between the world’s two largest economies, with private shipping data already pointing to a sharp slowdown in goods flowing from China to the United States.
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In another post, this time all in capital letters, Trump said, “China should open up its market to USA – would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work anymore!!!”
Trump’s comments came a day after he unveiled what he called a historic trade agreement with Britain, the first deal with any country since he unleashed a blitz of sweeping global tariffs last month.
Trump said the British deal would be the first of many and that he hoped difficult talks with the EU — as well as China — could soon produce results too.
Several countries have lined up to hold talks with Washington to avert the worst of Trump’s duties, which range from 10 per cent for many countries to the sky high ones on China — Trump’s main target.