Washington: US President Donald Trump has proposed cutting tariffs on goods from China, in his latest comment to signal interest in de-escalating the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, media reports said.
“80% Tariff on China seems right,” Trump wrote on social media on Friday, ahead of trade talks between the two countries in Switzerland.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying also struck a confident note ahead of the meetings, saying Beijing had “full confidence” in its ability to manage trade issues with the US, BBC reported.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has hit Chinese imports with 145% tariffs and China has retaliated with levies of 125% on some US goods, driving down trade between the two nations.
“The recent signals from both sides suggest a transactional de-escalation is on the table”, she added.
The announcement earlier this week of the talks was welcomed as an important first step towards easing tensions but analysts have warned that this marks the start of what are likely to be lengthy negotiations.
“The systemic frictions between the US and China will not be resolved any time soon,” said former US trade negotiator, Stephen Olson.
Any cuts to tariffs as a result of this meeting are likely to be “minor”, he added.
The initial negotiations will be led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s Vice Premier and economic tsar He Lifeng.
On social media on Friday, Trump called on China to “open up its market” to the US. He said any tariff reduction would be “up to Scott B”.
In earlier remarks on Thursday, he had said he expected a “very friendly” meeting.
The talks between China and the US are set to take place just two days after the UK became the first country to strike a tariffs deal with the Trump administration.
The US agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminium into the country tariff-free, in exchange for new access to US beef and other exports, according to an outline of the new agreement.
Trump announced what he called “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of countries in April but paused them shortly afterwards for 90 days to give their governments time to negotiate with his administration.
