President Donald Trump said he plans to reduce massive trade tariffs in China eventually, but not today, because doing business between the two countries really stops. He made the comment on an interview with NBC's Identify the press with Kristen Welker who was released on Sunday.
“Shortly, I'll lower them, because otherwise you can't do business with them, and they want to do business so much,” Trump Says.
The US, under Trump, is that Chinese imports with tariffs are as high as 145%, while China hit 125% of American goods.
The standoff cut off trade activity between the two largest economies in the world, sent warnings through markets, and could raise the price of important products such as manufacturing equipment, clothing, and toys that people would regularly buy in the US. The information was reported by CNBC.
Retailers stop orders while factories stop labor
Trump launched new tariffs on April 2, starting with a 34% hit on goods from China. The White House eventually raised that figure to 145%.
When those numbers fall, American retailers immediately stop orders. Many Chinese factories froze the operations due to uncertainty. That's what many companies at CNBC said during interviews.
Some factories began to move again, but only because of the remembrance of the loss of shopping season. “If you don't start doing the next few weeks, you'll start to disappear on Black Friday and Christmas,” said Cameron Johnson, a senior partner at Tidalwave Solutions, based in Shanghai.
Johnson added that “both sides are trying to be flexible to some degree,” and pointed out that restarting supply chains after a full stop is more difficult than keeping alive.
Many US buyers have tried to make the tariffs through the inventory of last year, when they hoped Trump would return to the office and raise trade duties. That move temporarily strengthened Chinese exports.
Shipping from China to the US in March jumped 9.1% compared to the same month last year. At the same time, US imports from China have dropped 9.5% year-on-year. These numbers are based on CNBC calculations of official custom data.
But those early moves are tired. The volume of container ships heading to China to the US has fallen dramatically in recent weeks, according to Morgan Stanley, who has been tracking shipping traffic.
Between April 14 and May 5, the number of canceled shipment trips rose 14 times compared to the period of March 10 to April 7. The sudden signals of collapse that the front load slowed down rapidly.
China looks at the talks as export orders fall
During the interview, Trump taught economic weakness within China as proof that his pressure campaign was working. He said China's factory activity had fallen to the worst slowdown since 2023.
The official Purchasing Managers' index showed that the new orders of exports have hit the lowest level since December 2022, and it has been the biggest collapse since April of that year – when Shanghai closed because of Covid.
However, Trump said China has made some “positive” statements recently. He said any deal between the two sides had to be “fair.” On Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce said that “currently reviewing” the option of trade negotiations in the US This is the first time since the new tariffs have been announced that Beijing may suggest talks.
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