China has entered negotiations with the US following the spike in tariffs that went up to a whopping 245%.
US President Donald Trump told reporters that the Chinese government had reached out to him “a number of times” to negotiate, and said he is convinced that the conversation will continue because “President Xi Jinping and he have a very good relationship.”
When asked if Trump is speaking directly to President Xi, the US President refused to comment.
“I don’t want to say it. It’s not appropriate.”
Another reporter asked if President Xi had reached out personally to start a negotiation, Trump said that “It was pretty obvious that President Xi had.”
“To be honest, we will eventually reach a deal. I strongly believe that in the end, we and China will reach an agreement.”
“Even if we don’t do this, we’ll still find a way to reach an agreement, because we’ve set a goal, and that’s what’s going to happen.”
Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnik, who was next to Trump during the press conference, said the country’s tariff policy prompted every country in the world to talk to the US. Howard also expressed confidence in seeing the US and China sealing a deal.
“We had country after country in yesterday. We’re confident that we will work something out with China.”
Reducing tariffs on China and a TikTok deal
According to Trump, talks with China are expected to go on for another 3 to 4 weeks. As of the time of writing (April 18), Trump confirmed that the tariffs set on China will not be increased, and will possibly be reduced.
As for the deal with TikTok, Trump said it’ll be subject to China, and the deal will be paused until China and the US reach a common ground on tariffs. Trump said the US and China were close to reaching an agreement on the TikTok deal, but China ultimately withdrew from negotiations because he announced a new 54% tariff on Chinese goods.
Trump said that if he lowered the tariffs slightly, “China would probably approve the deal in 15 minutes,” showing the power of tariffs as a negotiating tool.
What do you think of Trump’s take on this matter?
