Athira Sethu
Kochi, 18 April 2025
American President Donald Trump indicated on Thursday that he could possibly halt increasing tariffs on China. These tariffs – or additional taxes on foreign imports – had created issues in global markets. Trump indicated that he would like individuals to be able to purchase things, and if tariffs get too high, it gets too expensive for people.
“I don’t want to make things so expensive that people stop buying,” he said at the White House. “So maybe I won’t increase tariffs more. I might even lower them.”
Trump also talked about TikTok, a popular short video app used by 170 million Americans. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. The U.S. government wants ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations. But Trump said this deal might be delayed until the U.S. and China settle their trade issues.
“We have a deal for TikTok,” he said. “But we’ll wait and see how the trade talks go.”
Trump reported that China has been in touch since the tariffs were imposed. Yet individuals familiar with the talks stated there have not been significant or serious discussions between the two nations.
Trump also did not mention whether he has spoken personally with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Earlier this month, the U.S. increased some tariffs to 245% on Chinese imports. China retaliated by increasing its own tariffs on U.S. imports. China’s government claimed that the U.S. was being unreasonable and was leaning too hard on them.
A Chinese spokesperson declared, “The U.S. initiated this with its unilateral tariff increases. We won’t agree to it unless we are treated with respect and equally.”
China indicated it will continue to strike back if the U.S. continues to injure its rights and economy. In contrast to other nations that are attempting to negotiate with the U.S., China remains firm and has refused to accede to fresh negotiations.
