United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday played up prospects of a “fair deal”; on trade with China, but his top officials gave few details of how Washington might de-escalate its damaging tariff war with Beijing.
When asked if Washington was talking to Beijing, Trump told reporters that his country would have a fair deal with China, adding that everything was active.
Trump added that how soon the tariffs could be lowered depends on China, even as he maintained that he gets along very well with Chinese President Xi Jinping and hopes they could reach an agreement.
DAILY POST reports that trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies have soared as Trump ramped up levies on imports from China this year, imposing an additional 145 percent tariff on many products over practices Washington has deemed unfair, and other issues.
Beijing in turn has countered with new 125 percent tariffs on US goods.
Despite signals that Washington is looking towards a fair agreement, the state of discussions is said to have remained murky.
However, earlier Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the two countries were not yet talking when it comes to lowering tariffs.
“I think both sides are waiting to speak to the other,”; he said at an event on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings in Washington.
He reiterated that there is no unilateral offer from Trump to slash duties on Chinese goods.
According to him, the staggeringly high tariffs both countries have imposed on each other’s goods have to come down before negotiations can occur.
“I don’t think either side believes that the current tariff levels are sustainable, so I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way.
While Trump has swiftly rolled out sharp tariffs on different countries and sectors, he has also been quick to introduce certain exemptions, most recently some temporary reprieve for tech products like smartphones and chip making tools.
And he could widen the carve outs, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, saying Trump could exempt car parts from some tariffs on Chinese imports, alongside those on steel and aluminum.
Trump on Wednesday said he was not considering changes to US auto tariffs but noted that levies on Canada could rise in terms of cars.
