Trump Floats China Tariff Cuts Ahead of Geneva Showdown—Traders Brace for Whiplash
Trade war tremors hit markets as Trump dangles tariff relief—just in time for high-stakes Geneva negotiations. The move reeks of tactical theater, but Wall Street’s algo-traders will lap it up anyway.
Beijing’s delegation lands with poker faces, while DC whispers of ’strategic concessions’ (read: desperate election-year economics). One thing’s certain: the only winners here will be volatility hedge funds—again.
Data shows a decline in goods moved from China to the U.S.
🇺🇸 TRUMP: 80% TARIFF ON CHINA SEEMS RIGHT
“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.
CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!!
CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!”
Source: Truth Social https://t.co/lsB0yTNTKs pic.twitter.com/rg8DFJB3eI
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 9, 2025
According to data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, China is among the top U.S. trading partners. Last year, China exported $438.9 billion in goods while importing $143.5 billion from the U.S.
Amidst the escalating tensions between the two countries, recent shipping data showed a sharp decline in the number of imported products from China, leading to serious concerns regarding the shortage of particular goods in the next few weeks or the potential for higher prices. Trump said on Wednesday that he would not reduce tariffs to get China to the discussion table
Since his inauguration in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has increased levies on Chinese imports to 145 percent. While serving his first term, the Republican also imposed levies on many Chinese goods. Biden also introduced levies during his first presidential term.
China recently hit back at Trump’s tariffs by prohibiting the export of some rare earth minerals. The Chinese government also hit back by increasing tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 percent, on top of extra levies on select goods like liquefied natural gas and soybeans.
The U.S. President says China can’t go beyond 145 percent
U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that tariffs on China could come down as officials from the two largest economies were set to meet. He added that they already knew it would come down. The president also said he looked forward to a friendly meeting with the Chinese officials. Trump said he hoped representatives from both nations would hold the talks in an elegant way.
Vice Foreign Minister of China Hua Chunying also said he was confident about the weekend talks. Chunying added that Beijing had enough confidence in its ability to hold talks about trade issues with the U.S. However, Stephen Olson, a former US trade negotiator, argued that the systemic friction between China and the US would not be resolved any time soon. Olson added that any cuts to the current tariffs in the weekend talks were likely to be minor.
Bessent said he was determined to rebalance the international economic system to serve US interests better. He added that the talks would be about de-escalation but not securing a big trade deal. Bessent said talks would focus on de-escalating before they could MOVE forward.
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