President Trump said Friday morning that 80% tariffs on Chinese goods “seems right” as top US and China officials brace for high-level weekend talks — but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt backtracked later in the day, saying that the number was just something he “threw out there.”
“China should open up its market to USA — would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work anymore!!!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” he added, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In the afternoon, Leavitt told reporters at her regular briefing that Trump was not setting out a new negotiating stance.
“That was a number the president threw out there,” she said. “The president still remains with his position that he is not going to unilaterally bring down tariffs on China.”
Trump floated the tariff figure just as Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer were prepping to meet their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland for the high-stake talks.
It comes after sources close to the negotiation told The Post on Thursday that the Trump administration was considering a plan to slash the current 145% tariff to as low as 50%.
The White House has been keeping a tight lid on how it hopes China talks will pan out, not willing to make any concrete promises on what the rate will be.
“We’ll see what happens this weekend, and always in the effort of transparency, I’m sure you’ll hear directly from the treasury secretary or the president after those negotiations conclude,” Leavitt said.
The trade war has been escalating ever since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2 — prompting China to retaliate with levies of its own.
The tariffs on each other’s goods have been mounting since then, with the US tariffs against China currently at 145% and China tariffs on the US at 125%.
The 80% tariff rate would be a large reduction — but still above the 10% rate enshrined in a US-UK trade deal outlined Thursday.
The UK deal, in which the US got greater access to the British agricultural market, will be a “template” for future agreements, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters.
Senior trade adviser Peter Navarro added Thursday that Greer and Lutnick will be taking the wheel of trade negotiations going forward and that the US trade representative has his calendar booked with negotiations through early July.
Navarro declined to divulge any details about the China talks when asked by The Post.
