Trump ruled out the intention to unilaterally reduce duties for China

US President Donald Trump is still not going to unilaterally reduce duties on imports from China, despite earlier statements about the possibility of reducing them by 80%. This was announced on May 9 by White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.

"The President (Trump. — Ed.) still adheres to his position that he is not going to unilaterally reduce duties against China. We need to see concessions from them as well. And again, this is one of the reasons why Secretary [of the Treasury Scott] Bessant is going to talk with his Chinese counterparts this weekend to start these discussions in person," Leavitt stressed during a briefing.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper, citing sources, reported on April 23 that the United States is considering the possibility of reducing customs duties for China in order to reduce tensions between the countries. According to the newspaper, several options for easing duties on goods from China are under discussion. It is specified that in some cases tariffs can be reduced to 50-65%.

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On April 22, the head of the US Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, said that the ongoing trade standoff between Washington and Beijing is unstable, and its de-escalation may occur soon. At the same time, he noted that official negotiations between the United States and China have not yet begun. In his opinion, they will be quite heavy.

On the same day, Trump announced that the United States would reduce the percentage of customs duties on China, but not to zero. Then he admitted that the total US duties on goods from China, which currently amount to 145%, is a lot.