{"id":53998,"date":"2025-04-23T08:48:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T08:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/trump-signals-tariff-easing-in-china-trade-war\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T08:29:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T08:29:37","slug":"trump-signals-tariff-easing-in-china-trade-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/trump-signals-tariff-easing-in-china-trade-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump signals tariff easing in China trade war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking to reporters at a White House news event, Trump said the tariffs, which have soared as high as 145%, would “come down substantially,” though he stopped short of promising a full rollback. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t be zero,\u201d he clarified, \u201cbut it won\u2019t be anywhere near that high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remarks marked a notable shift in tone for a president who, just weeks ago, doubled down on escalating tariffs as part of what he called \u201cLiberation Day\u201d economic measures aimed at curbing Chinese dominance in key sectors. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s softer rhetoric followed earlier comments by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the current tariff levels are \u201ceffectively embargoing\u201d trade between the world\u2019s two largest economies.<\/p>\n

At a private investment conference hosted by JPMorgan Chase, Bessent reportedly told attendees the trade war is \u201cunsustainable\u201d and hinted at a near-term de-escalation. <\/p>\n

Markets responded swiftly to the changing narrative. All three major U.S. indexes closed near their daily highs following Bessent\u2019s remarks, while Asian markets surged overnight. Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng Index rose 2.5%, Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 climbed 2%, and South Korea\u2019s Kospi gained 1.5%.<\/p>\n

Despite the economic optimism, Trump\u2019s comments come amid a deeply entrenched and high-stakes trade war that has seen China retaliate with its own sweeping tariffs, most recently raising duties on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% in response to Trump\u2019s hike earlier this month. <\/p>\n

Beijing also returned two Boeing jets to the U.S., restricted the number of Hollywood films allowed in Chinese theatres, and added more American firms to its export control and “unreliable entity” lists.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Ministry of Finance blasted the U.S. actions in a scathing statement, calling the tariff hikes \u201cunilateral bullying\u201d and warning that further escalation would \u201cbecome a joke in the history of world economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, both sides appear to be leaving space for dialogue. Trump reiterated his hope for a deal, describing his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as \u201cvery good\u201d and suggesting diplomacy may yet prevail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be very nice. They\u2019re going to be very nice, and we\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Trump said. \u201cBut ultimately, they have to make a deal, because otherwise they\u2019re not going to be able to deal in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, diplomatic momentum has been hampered by internal tensions. A Chinese government source is said to have told the media last week that while Beijing is open to talks, they must be conducted with \u201crespect\u201d and greater \u201cconsistency and reciprocity\u201d from Washington. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s unilateral style, including his decision to serve as his own negotiator, reportedly complicates efforts to establish a stable channel of communication.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump signalled a potential softening in the ongoing trade standoff with China on Tuesday, hinting that the punishing tariffs levied on Chinese imports may soon be rolled back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000086247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000086247,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/trump-4_1741069677257_1741069704600new.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/trump-4_1741069677257_1741069704600new.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/trump-4_1741069677257_1741069704600new.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/trump-4_1741069677257_1741069704600new.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/trump-4_1741069677257_1741069704600new.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/trump-4_1741069677257_1741069704600new.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000086247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53998"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53998"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}