Trump says "no" to tariff cuts to get China to negotiating table

8/5/2025 6:05

U.S. President Donald

Trump on Wednesday suggested China initiated upcoming

senior-level trade talks between the two countries and said he

was not willing to cut U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to get

Beijing to the negotiating table.



The U.S. announced on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott

Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet

with China's top economic official on Saturday in Switzerland,

marking an initial step in potential negotiations over a

blistering trade war.



Beijing had adopted fiery rhetoric as tensions with

Washington ratcheted up, repeatedly saying it would not engage

in negotiations unless the U.S. withdrew its tariffs. Its

Commerce Ministry had suggested it was the U.S. side that had

signaled a desire to hold talks.



"They said we initiated? Well, I think they ought to go back

and study their files," Trump said in response to a reporter's

question at a White House event where his ambassador to China,

David Perdue, was sworn into office.



Asked if he was willing to reduce tariffs to get China to

negotiate, Trump said: "No."



"We were losing with China, on trade, a trillion dollars a

year - more, actually," Trump said. "You know what we're losing

now? Nothing. That's not bad."



The planned talks come after weeks of escalating tensions

that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two

largest economies soar well beyond 100%, amounting to what

Bessent on Tuesday described as the equivalent of a trade

embargo.



The impasse, along with Trump's decision last month to slap

sweeping duties on dozens of other countries, has upended supply

chains, roiled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp

downturn in global growth.



Bessent said after the meeting announcement that the talks

were about "de-escalation."



At the White House event, Trump said he and Perdue, a former

Republican U.S. senator from Georgia, would "work together very

closely" on U.S. relations with China.



Perdue touted his personal relationship with Trump,

something that could raise his stock in Beijing if Chinese

officials assess he has a direct channel to the president.



"I want the world to know that I know this man personally.

He loves this country, and I am glad to be your man in China,"

Perdue said.



In nominating Perdue, Trump had said he would be

instrumental in implementing a "productive working relationship

with China's leaders." During his confirmation hearing in early

April, Perdue said the U.S. approach to China must be "nuanced,

nonpartisan, and strategic."



Last year, however, Perdue condemned Chinese President Xi

Jinping as a "modern-day emperor," writing in an essay that

Beijing wanted to "destroy capitalism and democracy" and the

U.S.-led world order.