Donald Trump Reluctant to Continue Raising Trade Tariff on China

President Donald Trump stated that he was hesitant to continue raising tariffs on China because it could stymie trade between the two countries, and that Beijing had repeatedly reached out in an effort to broker a deal.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that officials he believed represented Chinese President Xi Jinping had attempted to initiate talks. However, he repeatedly avoided direct questions about whether he and Xi had been in direct communication.

"I have a very good relationship with President Xi, and I believe it will continue. And I believe they have reached out several times," Trump said. When asked whether Xi had contacted him directly or through Chinese officials, Trump replied, "The same. I see it very similarly. It would be the highest levels of China."

"If you knew him," Trump said of Xi, "you would know that if they reached out, he knew exactly what to do. He knew everything about it, and he runs it with precision, strength, and intelligence.

In an economic clash between the two superpowers, the United States and China have increased import tariffs as part of a larger wave of sweeping tariffs that Trump has sought to impose on major trading partners. He has imposed new levies totaling 145% on Chinese goods, while Beijing has retaliated with 125% duties on US goods. 

Trump said on Thursday that he was hesitant to continue raising those duties, and that he might be willing to lower them.

"At some point, I don't want them to go any higher because that's when people stop buying. So I may not want to go any higher, or even to that level," Trump stated. "I may want to go to less because, you know, you want people to buy."

Even with the dueling tariffs at stunningly high levels, the two countries have publicly appeared to dig in, with the White House saying China should reach out first and Beijing saying it was unsure about the US demands. 

Nonetheless, Trump expressed confidence on Thursday in a deal involving trade concessions and the sale of TikTok's US assets.

"Well, we have a deal for TikTok, but it'll be subject to China, so we'll just delay the deal till this thing works out," according to him.

Trump has previously stated that China's objections to his new tariffs stalled a deal to sell TikTok while keeping the popular video sharing app operational in the United States.

"I think it's a good deal for China," Trump said. "TikTok is beneficial for China. And I believe they would like to see us close a deal, particularly one with some of the world's best companies."

When asked if he would consider tariffs if China approved ByteDance Ltd.'s divestment of the app's US operations, Trump said he would discuss it with Beijing.

"It's natural—if we make a deal. I guess we'll spend five minutes talking about TikTok. It wouldn't take long," he explained.