(DCNF)—White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that there will be “no unilateral reduction in tariffs” on China, stating that the country must negotiate with the U.S.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. intends to ease tariffs on China “substantially,” though they will not be eliminated completely, after placing sizeable tariffs on the nation over its unfair trade practices. Leavitt said on Fox News’ “America Reports” that China must make a deal with the U.S. in order for the reciprocal tariffs to be reduced.
“There will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China,” Leavitt said. “The president has made it clear, China needs to make a deal with the United States of America and we are optimistic that will happen and when that continues, it will be up to the president [on] what the tariff on China will be. But we certainly need to see a reduction in tariffs and non-monetary tariffs from China as well, and we also need to continue seeing these companies abroad return their manufacturing to the United States so we can shore up these critical supply chains.”
After Trump’s initial tariff announcement on April 2, the U.S. entered a trade war with China as the country imposed steep tariffs of its own in retaliation. By April 9, Trump said he would raise the tariffs on China from 104% to 125% after he had implemented a 90-day pause on every other country to leave room for negotiations. The next day, Trump announced that the tariff rate would rise to a minimum of 145% on all Chinese tariffs, according to The New York Times.
China now faces tariffs of up to 245% as a result of its retaliatory actions, the White House said on April 15. Trump also levied 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum, cars and auto parts, as well as other Chinese goods, according to the Times.
The president said Tuesday that the upcoming tariffs will not be reduced to zero since China was able to take advantage of the U.S. in the past.
“It’ll come down substantially, but it won’t be zero. It used to be zero,” Trump said. “We were just destroyed. China was taking us for a ride and just not going to — it’s not going to happen. We’re going to be very good to China. I have a great relationship with President Xi, but they would make billions and billions and billions of dollars a year, and they were building a military out of the United States on what they made.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a Tuesday speech that he expects a “de-escalation” in the tariff war between the U.S. and China, according to The Associated Press.
China has set out to make trade deals with several countries, including Vietnam and some European nations, in response to Trump’s tariffs.
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