US President Donald Trump, alongside the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent (R), is expressed during a bilateral meeting with Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr in the White House cabinet in Washington, DC, April 24, 2025.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty images
President Donald Trump said on Friday before key sales talks that he was willing to reduce tariffs on China to 80%, but this level can always be higher than what investors and business leaders hoped.
“The 80% price on China seems right! Until Scott B,” said Trump in a social article of truth. The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, is one of the American officials who were expressed with counterparts in China during meetings in Switzerland this weekend.
An 80% levy would be a significant reduction compared to the 145% rate currently faced with many Chinese goods. However, this number could still be considered prohibitive to exchange. It is also much higher than the reference rate of 10% in the US-UK trade agreement which was announced on Thursday.
It is not clear if Trump wants the rate of 80% to be the long -term price for China, or if it should be considered a stage of negotiations.
In a separate article, Trump said “many commercial transactions in the hopper, all good (great!)!”
China is considered the main obstacle in Trump’s efforts to shake the global trade environment. While many other major countries have seen its prices announced previously in part on an April 9, tensions increased between the White House and Beijing until the two countries imposed a price of more than 100% on the goods.
China is one of the largest American trade partners. In 2024, the United States exported $ 143.5 billion in goods in China, importantly, 438.9 billion dollars, according to the office of the American commercial representative.
In another social article of truth on Friday morning, Trump said: “China should open its market in the United States – would be so good for them !!! The closed markets no longer work !!!”
Translections in Switzerland this weekend should not lead to a complete trade agreement. US trade representative Jamieson Greer said on “power lunch” on Thursday that he wanted discussions to lead to “stability” that could be “a basis for something more”.
The latest shipping data shows a drastic drop in the quantity of goods that move from China to the United States, which leads to concerns about higher price potential or even shortages of certain goods in the coming weeks.
Friday comments on China’s prices seem to report a change for Trump. The president said on Wednesday that he would not abuse the prices to bring China to the negotiation table.
