Donald Trump’s trade war with China may well end before it could ever really get started.
The president shared that he’s considering walking back punitive 145% tariffs on the country while speaking with reporters on Tuesday.
“145% is very high, and it won’t be that high,” he said when asked about duties on imported Chinese goods. “It won’t be anywhere near that high…It will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
Trump went on to say that the United States was being “taken for a ride” under previous administrations, but added that he had a “great relationship with President Xi [Jinping]” and that the U.S. “very good to China.”
“I think it’s going to work out very well,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a private investor conference put on by JPMorgan Chase that he believed the current situation between China and the U.S. would not last. He told the gathered investors to expect a “de-escalation.”
“I do say China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations,” Bessent said, per The Associated Press. “Neither side thinks the status quo is sustainable.”
Trump and Bessent’s cooling on tariffs comes the same day that the International Monetary Fund released doom-and-gloom projections for the coming year. The World Economic Outlook report projected that production would slow globally in response to Trump’s tariff scheme.
“We expect that the sharp increase on April 2 in both tariffs and uncertainty will lead to a significant slowdown in global growth in the near term,” the IMF shared.
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