Donald Trump indicates an 80 per cent tariff could be in store for China
Donald Trump has hinted he’s in tariff negotiations with a number of countries and revealed the rate he thinks “seems right” to slug Beijing as weekend trade talks with China loom.
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US President Donald Trump is approaching trade talks with China in an upbeat mood remarking that he has a number of “great” tariff negotiations ongoing.
“CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA – WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday, emphasising his point with capital letters.
“Many Trade Deals in the hopper, all good (GREAT!) ones!” he added, hinting China is not the only nation he is negotiating with.
“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” the President said in a third post, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
China is currently subject to a 145 per cent on goods exported to the US with top US and China officials head to Switzerland for high-level trade negotiations this weekend.
Mr Trump also explained why although he and “all other” rich Americans would “graciously” accept a tax increase, it wasn’t possible due to what the Democrats would say.
“The problem with even a “TINY” tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming,“Read my lips,” the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election,” Mr Trump wrote.
“Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!”
President George Bush Sr famously uttered the phrase “Read my lips: no new taxes” at the 1988 Republican National Convention.
While President Bush would win that year’s general election, he was denied a second term after losing to Bill Clinton in 1992.
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1000 TRANSGENDER TROOPS TO BE REMOVED FROM US MILITARY
The US military will “immediately” start the process of removing some 1000 transgender troops and will force out those who do not leave voluntarily by early June, the Pentagon said.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January banning transgender military service, and the US Supreme Court ruled this week that the ban could take effect while litigation challenging it plays out.
“The Military Departments will immediately begin processing for separation service members who previously self-identified for voluntary separation prior to March 26, 2025,” a memo from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.
Approximately 1000 troops who identified as having gender dysphoria diagnoses fall into that category, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
There were a total of 4240 currently serving troops with such diagnoses as of late last year, according to a senior defence official, and the memo said those who do not voluntarily leave by June 6 for active-duty troops and the following day for reserves will be removed.
“On conclusion of the self-identification eligibility window, the Military Departments will initiate involuntary separation processes,” the memo said.
In his January 27 executive order, Mr Trump stated that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
The Pentagon followed that up with a memo issued in late February stating that it would remove transgender troops from the military unless they obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis, as well as prevent transgender people from joining.
Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly, while Mr Trump has sought to keep them out of the ranks.
US COULD SLASH CHINA TARIFFS
The Trump administration is weighing a plan to slash the 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports by more than half — effective as soon as next week — as top US and China officials head to Switzerland for high-level trade negotiations.
It comes amid a “historic” trade agreement with Britain.
Specifically, US officials are discussing a proposal to lower President Trump’s punishing levy on China goods to between 50 per cent and 54 per cent as they begin what promises to be lengthy talks to hammer out a trade agreement, sources close to the negotiations told The New York Post’s Lisa Fickenscher and James Franey.
Meanwhile, trade taxes on neighbouring South Asian countries would be cut to 25 per cent, the source added.
“They are going to be bringing it down to 50 per cent while the negotiations are ongoing,” the source said of the trade tax on China.
The trade tax reduction is being eyed as Trump on Thursday local time said China tariffs “can only come down” as he unveiled a trade deal with the UK in the Oval Office.
“It’s at 145 so we know it’s coming down,” Mr Trump told reporters. “I think we’re going to have a very good relationship.”
Insiders said the 50 per cent-to-54 per cent range — down from the triple-digit level that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week “isn’t sustainable” this week — is in keeping with rates that were discussed last month when President Trump met with the bosses of the three biggest retailers in the US.
The CEOs – Doug McMillon of Walmart, Brian Cornell of Target and Ted Decker of Home Depot – all said the April 21 meeting at the White House was “productive” and “constructive” without offering details, according to reports.
In response, a “whisper” campaign spread quickly and “the number that emerged to get the ships flowing out of China was 54 per cent,” said Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun, which makes its retro toys in China including Tonka Trucks, Care Bears and My Little Pony.
“The signals we are getting is that the dam will break by the end of this week or next, that there will be an adjustment,” Foreman told The Post.
Many retailers have begun asking vendors to quote prices based on a range of tariff rates — anywhere between 10 per cent and 54 per cent — “so they are ready to price when the goods land” in the US, Foreman added.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Post in a statement: “When decisions on tariffs are made, they will come directly from the President. Anything else is just pure speculation.”
Nevertheless, “CEOs felt very reassured after Mr Bessent’s remarks at Milken,” a source told
While sharply lower than what’s currently in effect, a 50 per cent trade tax would pose a formidable challenge as retailers prepare for the crucial holiday season, sparking drastically higher prices at stores, retail executives said.
The toy industry is in crosshairs of the tariff wars as 80 per cent of toys sold in the US are made in China.
Basic Fun has 35 containers on the water that are expected to arrive in the US this week and next, but seven of them were sent on April 10 when the 145 per cent levy became effective.
RUSSIA, CHINA SLAM TRUMP’S ‘IRON DOME’ MISSILE PLANS
Russia and China on Thursday slammed President Donald Trump’ plans for an “Iron Dome” missile defence system as “deeply destabilising” in a joint statement issued after talks between presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow.
“The recently announced large-scale ‘Golden (Iron) Dome for America’ program is also deeply destabilising,” said the statement published by the Kremlin. The plan “explicitly provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal for conducting combat operations in space”, it added.
EU THREATENS TO TARGET US PRODUCTS IF TRUMP TALKS FAIL
The EU has threatened to target US cars and planes among a raft of products worth 95 billion euros (A$167 billion) if negotiations with President Trump’s team fail to avert a trade war.
The European Commission said it would, in parallel, file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over Trump’s imposition of swingeing tariffs against the bloc.
The US leader announced a 20-percent “reciprocal” tariff on most EU goods in April, but he then froze the measure until July, along with higher duties on dozens of other nations.
Trump, however, maintained a “baseline” 10 per cent tariff on imports from around the world, including the 27-nation European Union.
The EU wants to strike a deal with the United States to prevent an all-out trade war, but is preparing its retaliation should Trump’s tariffs kick in again.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen reiterated the bloc’s determination to reach a negotiated solution and avoid painful tariffs on both sides.
“The EU remains fully committed to finding negotiated outcomes with the US. We believe there are good deals to be made for the benefit of consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” she said.
Mr Trump has also rolled out 25-percent tariffs on imports of steel, aluminium and cars.
Brussels cooked up a first list of products to target worth 21 billion euros in response to the steel and aluminium duties, but it has paused those retaliatory tariffs until July 14 to give time for negotiations.
The much larger list unveiled on Thursday – the bloc’s proposed response to Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” – is designed to up the pressure on the US side to reach a deal.
There will be some hope of an agreement after Mr Trump on Thursday announced a deal with Britain on trade, which would be the first such accord since he launched his tariffs blitz.
In a 218-page document, the EU listed all the products it could target including US-made aircraft, cars, human hair, nuts and fruit, plastics, chemicals and electrical equipment.
The list also included bourbon whiskey — which had been removed from the first set of retaliatory measures in a bid to shield European wine and spirits from threatened reprisals.
Planes and autos make up some of the largest value of goods on the list, worth 10.5 billion euros (A$18 billion) and more than 12 billion euros respectively, a senior EU official said.
Plastics and chemicals worth 12.9 billion euros (A$22 billion) also feature.
The EU has insisted that if Mr Trump does not back down, it is prepared to take more extreme measures, including targeting US Big Tech.
“All options remain on the table,” the senior official said.
SWEDEN BAILS OUT RADIO STATION AFTER TRUMP CUT
Sweden’s government said that it was pledging 20 million kronor (A$3.1m) to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after US President Donald Trump’s administration froze funding to the broadcaster.
“After the United States withdrew its support for Radio Free Europe, people in many countries risk a lack of access to free media,” said a government statement.
It would be donating 20 million kronor to the Prague-based station, the statement added.
Founded by the United States during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda, RFE/RL had an annual budget of A$220 million in 2024.
US President Donald Trump in March froze US funding to the broadcaster to slash government spending, a decision which has been appealed in US court.
RFE/RL reaches almost 50 million people in countries including Belarus, China, Iran or Russia, seeking to counter the official propaganda in those countries.
Employing 1,700 staff and broadcasting in 27 languages to 23 countries, it has remained operational, the Czech government also having stepped in to keep it afloat.
“Free and independent media are essential for vibrant and prosperous democracies but not something we can take for granted,” Sweden’s EU Minister Jessica Rosencrantz said in a statement.
“Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has long been a key player in providing fact-based information where it is most needed,” she added.
– with AFP
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