Trump announces high tariffs on goods from China will drop 'substantially'

President Donald Trump reported that high tariffs on goods from China will “come down substantially.” However, he explained that they will not be zero. The president's comments came during a press conference.

Trump spoke on the issue after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that high tariffs were unsustainable and that he expects a "de-escalation" in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

"Bessent said that it was not the US’s goal to decouple from China and that the current status quo of 145% tariffs on Chinese goods by the US and 125% tariffs on US products by China was not sustainable," according to Bloomberg which reported the Treasury secretary's comments.

Meanwhile, China said Wednesday that the door "is open" for a trade negotiation with the United States. The position became known after President Trump announced his decision regarding tariffs.

"China has previously said that in a trade and tariff war there are no winners, the door for talks is wide open," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun.

President Trump slapped import duties of 145% on China, which in turn responded with tariffs of 125% on U.S. goods.