The New York Post reported on Thursday – quoting unnamed sources – that the administration of US President Donald Trump is considering a 145% customs duties on Chinese imports in more than half next week, while the White House denied the report and described it as just speculation.
“When decisions are made about customs duties, it will come directly from the president. Anything else is just speculation,” a White House spokesman said.
This comes at a time when Trump said he expects important negotiations between the United States and China on trade early next week, suggesting that the customs duties imposed on China of 145%.
Trump’s comments at the White House, during the disclosure of the details of a new trade agreement between the United States and Britain, are the latest indication of tension between the two largest economies in the world.
The two countries entered a confrontation on customs duties and trade. After a stalemate for more than two months, the two sides announced this week to send senior officials to Switzerland for talks early next week.
The Trump team is working on multiple commercial agreements after the president’s suspension of counter -tariffs imposed on most countries, in order to alleviate the severity of a trade war that stormed the financial markets and the United States’ relations with friends and opponents.
But Trump did not stop the customs duties on China, and the brief comments from Washington and Beijing about their dispute raised questions about the economic consequences of the long trade war between them.
Trump indicated yesterday, Thursday, that the United States may take a step to reduce that tension by reducing customs tariffs. When asked if he would consider reducing the rate of fees if the conversations went well, he answered, “This can happen.”
“The rate cannot be raised more than that,” Trump added. “
The upcoming talks in Switzerland, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, and American commercial actor Jimson Jarir, and Li Feng, Vice President of the Chinese State Council.
It is seen as a first step towards ending a commercial war that caused unrest in the global economy.
Trump expressed his belief that China strongly wanted to conclude an agreement and his desire to open China.
Chinese position
“I think we’ll have a good weekend with China. I think they have a lot to win it. I think they have much more gains than we have, in some way,” Trump said.
On Thursday, Beijing renewed its call to the United States to cancel the unilateral customs duties on China, and a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Yadong, said – in a press briefing – that the United States should prepare to cancel the punitive fees.
He added that the United States “needs to show sincerity to speak and prepare to correct its mistakes and cancel the monos.”
China pledged last Wednesday that it would defend the principles of “justice” in the upcoming commercial talks with the United States.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier that the talks were “at the request of the United States”, and that its position calling for Washington’s cancellation of customs duties “has not changed.”
The Chinese Ministry of Trade stressed that “any dialogue must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit. Any form of pressure or coercion will not work with China.”
Trade between America and China
The data of the American Trade Representation Office indicates that the volume of trade exchange in goods between the United States and China in 2024 amounted to about 582.4 billion dollars, distributed as follows:
- US exports to China: 143.5 billion dollars, a decrease of 2.9% compared to 2023.
- American imports from China: $ 438.9 billion, an increase of 2.8% over the previous year.
- The commercial deficit in the interest of China: $ 295.4 billion, and represents a 5.8% increase from 2023.
