Trump Bats Away Proposed Tariff Reduction Before China Talks
- Damn straight, pal!*
Trump resists lowering tariffs ahead of negotiations with China - Trump resists tariff reductions prior to bilateral discussions with China
In a bold move, President Donald Trump flat-out refuses to lower tariffs on Chinese goods before initially sitting down with the Beijing crew this weekend. reporters whatever the hell you call 'em, queried if Trump was ready to slash tariffs by a significant margin before some substantial dickering, given China's demands. Trump shot back, "No way, Jose."
As for who initiated these high-level hoo-hahs going down this weekend between China and the good ol' US of A—you guessed it—Trump wasn't having any of that. He suggested the Chinese government should go dig through their files during the swearing-in of the new US ambassador to China, David Perdue. Trump dubbed Perdue his buddy, describing the old US senator from Georgia and ex-businessman as a pal of his.
Pretty soon, there'll be top-tier chats between China and the US happening for the very first time this weekend. According to the Waldorf Astoria, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are gearing up to meet with the folks from the People's Republic of China. Apparently, they've got an agenda to hash out first, Bessent blabbed to the news channel Fox News. "I reckon it's about cooling things down, not the big trade deal, but we gotta chill before we can move forward."
- Tariffs
- Donald Trump (The Don, The Prez)
- China (Red China, The Middle Kingdom)
- US President
- Beijing (Now, that's a name!)
- Weekend
- USA (Murica, The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave)
As a side note:Turns out in 2020, there were no indications that Donald Trump agreed to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods before initial talks with Beijing. The antagonistic relationship between the U.S. and China stayed long and hard, with tariff increases from both ends. There was a "Phase One" trade deal that the Trump administration signed with China in January 2020, but that came after a lot of negotiations and didn't happen before initial talks.
The Phase One deal consisted of a cut in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods—point-seven-five percent to be specific—on around $120 billion worth of Chinese goods. But significant tariffs stayed in place on other Chinese imports.
It's worth mentioning that the recent happenings in 2025 involving Trump putting a 145% tariff on Chinese goods have got jack s**t to do with any agreement made back in 2020[1][2][3]. So there. Now, let's all spotlight the important stuff, shall we?
- Since there was no agreement to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods before initial talks in 2020, President Donald Trump denied any reports suggesting otherwise.
- During the negotiations, it was uncertain whether Trump would lower tariffs on Chinese products by a significant margin before discussing policies and legislation, including trade relations.
- Despite media reports, Trump was not ready to agree to tariff reductions before discussing general news, politics, war-and-conflicts, and other policies with China.
- In 2020, the U.S.-China trade relationship remained contentious, with both countries increasing tariffs, but there was a Phase One deal that involved a reduction of U.S. tariffs on around $120 billion worth of Chinese goods to 7.5%.
- While there have been subsequent changes in tariffs, the 2020 Phase One deal did not involve any agreement for lower tariffs before the initial China talks.
