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President Donald Trump claimed that the 80% tariffs on Chinese goods "seems right" ahead of scheduled high-level discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials to deescalate the ongoing trade war this weekend.
“China should open up its market to USA — would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work anymore!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account Friday (May 9) morning.
“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” he wrote in a separate post, referencing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who, along with chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer, was scheduled to meet with Chinese officials in Switzerland this weekend.
Trump's social media posts came hours after sources with knowledge of the situation told the New York Post that the administration was considering slashing the current 145% tariff to as low as 50% on Thursday (May 8). The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China escalated when the president announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs on international trading partners on April 2, which led to China issuing retaliation tariffs on the U.S.
The U.S. tariffs are on China are currently at 145%, while the China tariffs on the U.S. are at 125%. Trump's sweeping tariffs on international goods have led to the prices on goods around the world rising, though the president claimed "everybody's gonna be fine" in an ABC News interview last week.
"Well, they did sign up for it, actually. And this is what I campaigned on. I said that we've been abused by other countries at levels that nobody's ever seen before … I could've left it that way, and at some point, there would've been an implosion like nobody's ever seen. But I said, 'No, we have to fix it.' I've -- I've wanted to do this for many years," Trump said when asked by ABC News Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran if he was downplaying concern over the tariffs' impact.