Updated May 9, 2025 at 10:37 AM PDT
Ahead of trade negotiations with China this weekend in Switzerland, President Trump on Friday suggested that U.S. levies on Chinese goods, which currently stand at up to 245%, could be lowered to 80%.
"80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B," Trump posted on social media. He was referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will lead the U.S. representatives in talks with his Chinese counterparts.
It will be the first high-level face-to-face trade talks between the two countries since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Both customs levies and tensions between the U.S, and China are running high. While analysts and officials on both sides warn to expect no immediate trade deal from this weekend's talks, the meetings offer a chance for the two countries to de-escalate their tough trade rhetoric.
"If you say one thing and do another, or even attempt to continue to coerce and blackmail under the guise of talks, China will never agree, much less sacrifice its principled position of international fairness and justice to seek any agreement," He Yadong, a spokesperson for China's Commerce Ministry, told Chinese media.
China has demanded a rollback of U.S. tariffs even before the talks begin in Geneva, which the White House ruled out, though Trump hinted U.S. levies on China could come down after the talks.
"You can't get any higher. It's at 145, so we know it's coming down," he said, referring to new U.S. tariffs imposed in the last few weeks. Chinese imports to the U.S. currently face up to 245% in cumulative levies on some goods, while American goods headed to China face a 125% import tax.
The Switzerland talks will primarily take place between Treasury Secretary Bessent along with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Vice Premier He Lifeng, a top Chinese economic official.
During the trade war in President Trump's first term in 2019, China actively sought out dialogue with the U.S.
This time, however, it has consistently maintained a tough stance, vowing to "fight to the end." Beijing has also consistently signaled the U.S. side must make the first move, even as Trump angled for a phone call from China's leader Xi Jinping and insisted this week it was China that reached out first to set up this weekend's meeting.
"If the U.S. wants to resolve the issue through negotiations, it must face up to the serious negative impact that unilateral tariff measures have on itself and the world," He, the Commerce Ministry spokesperson, emphasized.
"The U.S. side is actually more eager than China to ease the current trend," says Wu Xinbo, director at the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. "It is quite clear that the Trump administration did not anticipate the severe economic consequences brought about by the tariff policy, nor did it expect such a strong response from China."
The talks are a chance for both countries to outline what they want from one another. So far, the U.S. has not been clear on what it wants to achieve through its tariffs on China. Trump has said alternately that they are trying to punish China for not doing enough to stop fentanyl trafficking, but he has also indicated he wants China to buy more from the U.S. and to incentivize overseas manufacturers to locate to the U.S.
"The president said he wanted China to open up, particularly American exports, one assumes. But there has been very little forthcoming on specifics," says Mary Lovely, who monitors trade policy at the nonpartisan economics think tank the Peterson Institute in Washington. "On the Chinese side, you know, their number one ask would be rollback in the export controls on chips in particular and in chipmaking equipment."
Chinese exporters are already feeling the bite of steep American tariffs, though they have compensated in part by increasing exports to other countries.
Moreover, Beijing has been preparing for an economic stand-off with the U.S. for years, by shoring up their own supply chains for both finished goods and intermediate products, such as technological components, and reducing their dependence on foreign countries.
Earlier this week, China also announced a flurry of monetary changes, lowering an interbank interest rate and requirements for financial reserves state banks need to keep in deposits, in order to free up about 1 trillion renminbi, or about $138 billion, in liquidity and to cushion their economy from the impact of U.S. tariffs.
"We expect this is really the first salvo or the first round of government support," says Dinny McMahon, director of market research at Trivium, which advises businesses in China.
He also points to how China has stepped up its own trade diplomacy, especially to Southeast Asia, as it seeks to ink its own trade deals without the U.S. by casting itself as the strongest proponent of a global free trade regime.
"[China] feels like it is on strong ground going out to the rest of the world saying, 'Hey, I'm all in favor of supporting and perpetuating the existing regime, who else is with me?' "
Aowen Cao contributed to this report from Beijing.
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