White House mulls tariff cut to ease China trade tensions
The White House is considering a substantial reduction of tariffs on the import of Chinese goods to de-escalate the trade dispute with China, "The Wall Street Journal" reported on Wednesday. According to the newspaper's sources, the tariffs may decrease from 145% to 50-65%.
"WSJ" reported that a final decision has not yet been made and that discussions on this matter are still ongoing in the White House. The reduction of tariffs – which are currently at such high levels that they practically act as an embargo on many Chinese products – is aimed at easing trade tensions with Beijing, initiated by the imposition of additional reciprocal tariffs by the US, which raised the total rate to 145%.
According to one of the newspaper's sources, eventually, the tariffs on Chinese goods might drop to 50-65%. The American administration is also considering different rates for various categories of goods: 35% for non-essential national security goods and 100% for products from strategic economic sectors.
Trump talks about tariffs
The tariff reduction was already suggested on Tuesday by US President Donald Trump. When asked about a comment from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly stated at a closed conference organised by JP Morgan that the current tariff level is unsustainable, Trump agreed with this opinion.
"145% is very high and it won’t be that high. It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero," Trump said.
He also mentioned that he intends to be "nice" to China and that he will not "play hardball" with them. Already on Tuesday, following the remarks of Bessent and Trump, stock prices on Wall Street rebounded sharply after recent declines and continued to rise on Wednesday. According to "WSJ," Trump's actions are a response to these declines, aimed at calming the worsening sentiment among investors.
"In China and the US, these are no longer tariff 'dances' like in previous years. It's a total trade war. Resolutions will only come when societies feel the pain, unemployment," wrote Jakub Jakobowski, Director of the Centre for Eastern Studies, on the X platform in early April.
In a communiqué issued on April 11, Chinese authorities stated that if the United States continues its tariff-related tactics, China will disregard them. However, they warned that should the American side persist in making significant violations of Chinese interests, China will strongly oppose such actions and is prepared to fight to the end.
