President Donald Trump says tariffs on Chinese imports to the United States will eventually be lowered, after both Beijing and Washington appeared to soften their positions about potential trade talks.
“At some point, I’m going to lower them because otherwise you could never do business with them,” he said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” which taped on Friday. “They want to do business very much … their economy is collapsing.”
Weeks of tit-for-tat escalation between the world’s two largest economies have driven US tariffs on Chinese products to a staggering 145% and Chinese levies on American goods to 125%. Over the past two weeks, both sides have appeared to moderate their rhetoric.
In the interview, which aired Sunday, Trump acknowledged the toll the tariffs have taken on China, pointing to factory closures and unemployment “through the roof,” but insisted that he would not make the first move.
“You’re not dropping the tariffs against China to get them to the negotiating table?” Welker asked.
“Why would I do that?” Trump responded.
On Friday, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry said the country was “currently assessing” proposals by the US to begin trade talks, but that Trump must “cancel” his “unilateral tariff hikes” first.
The US tariffs have already started to affect China’s export-reliant economy. In April, factory activity there showed its steepest contraction in 16 months, while new export orders dipped to their lowest level since 2022, during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to official data.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that he has no plans to speak to Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week. “But China and our people are talking about different things,” he added.
Trump said he seeks a “fair” trade deal with China, while repeating his claim that the country has taken advantage of the US, in terms of trade, for years.
