Trump Vows Not to Lower Tariffs Before Talks with China Begin

President Donald Trump maintained a tough stance with China on Wednesday, reiterating that he would not lower tariffs to get the trading partner to the negotiating table.

Chinese leaders have reportedly said meaningful negotiations would be conditional on de-escalating the 145% tariffs currently being charged on Chinese goods entering the United States. A reporter at a White House press conference on Wednesday asked Trump whether he would be willing to make that accommodation before talks began.

“No,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments come ahead of the first meeting between U.S. and Chinese trade officials since the two nations began tit-for-tat tariff hikes that led to the current standoff. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are expected to meet with Chinese officials in Switzerland over the weekend.

During an interview last Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said that “at some point” he would lower tariffs on China, a position he has repeated since the trade tensions between the two nations began. But during the same interview, Trump also made similar comments, asserting that he wasn’t willing to lower tariffs in order to encourage Chinese officials to get to the negotiating table.

Tariffs on Chinese-made goods stand to impact American consumers by adding costs to products shipped from overseas. Shipping traffic is already down from China and other overseas trading partners as a result of the higher import taxes.