Trump Responds After WSJ Reports He's Considering Slashing Tariffs on Chinese Imports

As I reported earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump is considering slashing tariffs on Chinese imports—in some cases by more than half—in a bid to de-escalate tensions with Beijing that have roiled global and U.S. markets since the tit-for-tat tariff war between the world's two largest economies began, according to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal:

One senior White House official said the China tariffs were likely to come down to between roughly 50% and 65%. The administration is also considering a tiered approach similar to the one proposed by the House committee on China late last year: 35% levies for items the U.S. deems not a threat to national security, and at least 100% for items deemed as strategic to America’s interest, some of the people said. The bill proposed phasing in those levies over five years.

The implications of Trump appearing to act unilaterally in slashing tariffs on China — after kicking them up considerably earlier in April in a tariff war with the communist giant — would be profound, as would the ChiComs appearing to cave in to Trump and the United States by standing down to its foremost "enemy."

WH Confirms Huge Midnight Tariff on China—'When America Is Punched,' Trump 'Punches Back Harder'

While refusing to comment directly about the WSJ report, Trump began a Wednesday back-and-forth with reporters by repeating his Tuesday Oval Office comments about seeking a free and fair trade deal with China, as rollercoaster markets and major investors are hoping for a settling of tariffs and fear of a pending trade war that have led equity markets to sink to Biden administration levels.

Tariff negotiations are going very well. They all want to be involved with America. We have a lot of action going on. ... Everything's active; everybody wants to be a part of what we're doing. We are going to have a fair deal with China. It's going to be fair.

Trademark Trump generalizations like "They all want to be involved..." and "everybody wants to be a part" aside, the economic standoff with China, the world's second-largest economy, is a high-stakes game of tit-for tat, "who blinks first," and "who's bluffing and who's not," with trillions of dollars world trade at stake.

Simply, if there was ever a need for Trump's vaunted "art of the deal" to work, this is it.

Here's a bit more:

In addition to the steep tariffs on China, Trump has also imposed a blanket 10% tariff on all other U.S. imports and higher duties on steel, aluminum and autos. He has suspended targeted tariffs on dozens of other countries until July 9 and floated additional industry-specific levies on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. That has roiled financial markets and raised fears of recession.

The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that tariffs will slow growth and push debt higher across the globe. According to Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, IMF's chief economist:

We're entering a new era as the global economic system that has operated for the last 80 years is being reset. Beyond the abrupt increase in tariffs, the surge in policy uncertainty is a major driver of the economic outlook. If sustained, the increase in trade tensions and uncertainty will slow global growth significantly.

While social media keyboard jockeys will continue to throw fits at one another from all angles, the simple fact is this: the ultimate outcome of a protracted tariff war between the U.S. and China remains unknowable. Anything on the contrary is an opinion — not a fact.

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