Donald Trump’s former envoy to China says US tariff cuts could come soon
According to Terry Branstad, there may be some movement from the White House but Beijing will need to reciprocate
“And then we need a reciprocal response from the Chinese that shows they have an interest in it,” he said, during a discussion with the New York-based asset management firm KraneShares on Wednesday.
“And we’ll see. I don’t know that there will be a deal, but I know that Trump would like to see one at the end of the day … I think Trump wants it to happen quicker and not take years. So we’ll see what happens, but I suspect we’ll see movement within the next year,” he said.
“I think we’ll see some deals between other countries first, but hopefully in the not too distant future, we’ll see something significant with China as well.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the White House was considering slashing tariffs by more than half on non-strategic Chinese goods, in a week that has also seen an easing in Trump’s tone on China.
While most countries, including many US allies, saw a 90-day pause in Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs introduced on April 2, the 145 per cent duties imposed on China were kept in place, bringing the effective rate to about 156 per cent.