Trump says he might talk with Xi over tariffs this weekend
發佈日期: 2025-05-13 19:43
TVB News
U.S. President Donald Trump said he might hold talks with President Xi Jinping at the end of this week. This comes after the U.S. and China agreed to drastically lower tariffs in a bid to de-escalate trade tensions.
Meanwhile, China has reportedly agreed to allow domestic airliners to accept Boeing jets and lift its export restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets.
Two of the world's largest economies are seemingly hitting the brakes on a trade war for now, after sparking fears of an economic recession worldwide.
Following ice-breaker talks in Switzerland, Washington is cutting the extra levies it imposed on Chinese imports in April from 145 percent to 30 percent for the next three months. Chinese tariffs on the U.S. will drop to 10 percent from 125 percent.
The White House released an order saying starting from tomorrow, the U.S. government will also cut the "de minimis" tariff on shipments from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao to 54 percent, down from the previous 120 percent. The minimum flat fee of 100 U.S. dollars will remain in place.
U.S. President Donald Trump was upbeat about the negotiations, saying they led to a "reset" between the two nations.
"We achieved a total reset with China after productive talks in Geneva. The relationship is very very good and I will speak to President Xi, maybe at the end of the week. We have some other things we're doing."
World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called the meeting "a significant step forward."
She urged both sides to develop practical solutions to further mitigate tensions, restore predictability and boost confidence in the multilateral trading system.
The United Nations also hailed the progress as a positive sign for the global economy.
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General said, "It's very positive for the world economy. We've always said that we don't need any escalation in the trade war. We need dialogue. I think the secretary-general has been very clear that no one wins at a trade war."
As part of the consensus, China and the United States will take aggressive actions to stem the flow of fentanyl to illicit drug producers in North America. Trump told reporters China will "fully open" its markets to U.S. businesses.
While the time of the next round of high-level talks with China has not yet been decided, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the possibility of a meeting in the coming weeks when both sides are ready. Still, Bessent acknowledged it could take years to reset Washington's trade relationship with Beijing.
China's "People's Daily" argued in a commentary that the weekend meeting is a good start for future negotiations, but to tackle the root cause of the problem, the U.S. needs to fundamentally rectify its wrongdoing of imposing unilateral tariffs.
