President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has no intention of reducing the effective tariff rate on China, as Beijing requested, to advance trade negotiations.
China is facing the steepest tariff rate from Trump’s administration. While other countries were granted a 90-day reprieve from so-called reciprocal tariffs last month, excluding a baseline 10% flat rate, the president raised China’s tariff rate to 145%.
In response, China placed a 125% tariff rate on American goods and has resisted overtures from the Trump administration to lower the temperature and negotiate a new bilateral trade deal.
Trump faced multiple trade-focused questions during the Wednesday Oval Office swearing-in ceremony for David Perdue, the president’s new ambassador to China.
“China says in order to have substantive negotiations, you have to bring down your 145% tariffs,” one reporter said. “Are you open to pulling back your tariffs in order to get China to the negotiating table?”
“No,” Trump responded curtly before moving on to the next question.
Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified before Congress that the administration is considering some tariff exemptions for child care-related products, including car seats, the overwhelming majority of which are manufactured in China.
Trump, however, walked back Bessent’s comments in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon.
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it. I don’t know. I really, I want to — I want to make it nice and simple,” the president said. “I’m not looking to have so many exemptions that nobody knows what’s doing.”
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, later this week to meet with He Lifeng, China’s top trade official.
TRUMP FACING BIPARTISAN PRESSURE TO CRACK DOWN ON CHINESE VAPES
“At President Trump’s direction, I am negotiating with countries to rebalance our trade relations to achieve reciprocity, open new markets, and protect America’s economic and national security,” Greer said in a statement. “I look forward to having productive meetings with some of my counterparts as well as visiting with my team in Geneva who all work diligently to advance U.S. interests on a range of multilateral issues.”
