Posted on 04/24/2025 12:53:04 AM PDT by Cronos
US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
Trump’s remarks, made at a White House news event Tuesday, appear to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond a staggering 145%.
“145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”
Trump made the comments when asked about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s remarks earlier in the day that the high tariff rates between the United States and China have effectively embargoed trade between the economies.
Bessent said at a private investment conference hosted by JP Morgan Chase that the trade war with China is unsustainable and he expects the battle to de-escalate in the very near future, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
...“Claiming it wants to reach an agreement with China while constantly applying maximum pressure is not the right way to engage with China — and it simply won’t work,” Guo Jiakun,
“China’s position on the tariff war initiated by the United States is very clear: We do not want to fight, but we are not afraid to fight. If it’s to fight, we’ll fight till the end. If it’s to talk, our door is wide open,”
Trump’s shift in tone also went viral on the Chinese internet. On Wednesday, the hashtag “Trump chickened out” was trending as a top topic on social media platform Weibo, racking up more than 150 million views.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
It's good for the markets. The markets have been shaking out the weak hands. Left with stronger investors, the markets can rally strongly for a year based on fundamentals of American-sourced manufacturing rather than overextended bubble stocks.
Grab them by the pussy are the 145% tariffs.
It was always going to end in a compromise. But the notion that China is some big bad entity that rules the world is horse poop. The notion that they can dictate terms is horse poop. They look great on the outside. But scrape away at them a bit and get a peek under the hood and I suspect you will see that they aren’t doing well from this trade war and can’t sustain this very much longer.
One thing is for sure, whether it is precipitous or more gradual, the U.S. is going to disengage from China.
Quote: “ Chaos management isn’t a good style.”
Neither is status quo.
What strikes me the most about the opponents to Trump’s approach is their lack of an alternative. (Not saying you) The people arguing the hardest against Tarrifs wanted to do what? Nadda. They wanted status quo globalism.
Status quo had to go.
I agree, I’m all for decoupling from China especially in strategic industries like pharmaceuticals, leave the tariffs high, it will be rough for 6-12 months until new supply chains get established, the on again off again tariffs are not good for business planning, what do I know I’m just glad that Trump has the balls to change the economic situation, something no politician from either party was willing to attempt
No, it shows that Trump has accomplished what he set out to do. And when the treacherous Chinese FA again they'll FO again.
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