U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s waiting to hear from China before tariffs exceeding 100% take effect, though other officials indicated negotiations with the world’s second-largest economy are not a priority.
Global markets steadied after days of carnage prompted by Trump’s sweeping levies, which have raised fears of recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades. U.S. stocks posted gains after a bruising selloff that has wiped out trillions of dollars since last week.
10% Baseline Tariffs
Trump has already implemented a 10% tariff on almost all imports to the world’s largest consumer market, and targeted tariffs of up to 50% on many trading partners are due to take effect on Wednesday.
China has refused to bow to what it called “blackmail” and vowed to “fight to the end” after Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs to 104% in response to China’s decision to match “reciprocal” duties Trump announced last week.
Trump indicated that a resolution might be possible.
“China also wants to make a deal, badly, but they don’t know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!” he said on social media.
Administration officials, however, said China would take a back seat to other countries in trade talks.
“Right now, we’ve received the instruction to prioritise our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox News.
Trump’s administration has set up negotiations with those two export-dependent countries, which could be hammered by the thicket of country- and product-specific tariffs.
Dozens of other governments have reached out as well, and Vietnam and Indonesia have offered to cut tariffs on some U.S. imports.
Trump’s lead trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, told Congress that his office is trying to work quickly but has no particular timeline for tariff negotiations.
“The president has been clear, again, that he’s not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term,” Greer told lawmakers.
Impact
China is bracing for a war of attrition, and manufacturers of goods from tableware to flooring are warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas plants. Citing rising external risks, Citi cut its 2025 China GDP growth forecast to 4.2% from 4.7%.
Some companies are warning they will hike prices.
Chipmaker Micron told customers it will impose a tariff-related surcharge starting on Wednesday, while U.S. clothing retailers said they are delaying orders and holding off on hiring. Running shoes made in Vietnam that now retail for $155 will cost $220 when Trump’s 46% tariff on that country takes effect, according to an industry group.
Consumers are stocking up while they can. “I’m buying double of whatever – beans, canned goods, flour, you name it,” Thomas Jennings, 53, said as he pushed a shopping cart through the aisles of a New Jersey Walmart.
As the world’s two biggest economies traded blows, China’s Foreign Ministry criticised as “ignorant and impolite” the comments made by Vice President JD Vance in a recent Fox News interview.
While defending Trump’s tariffs, Vance criticised the U.S. economic model as harming its own workers, “We borrow money from China’s peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”
Stock markets found a firmer footing on Tuesday after a gut-wrenching few days for investors, which prompted some business leaders, including those close to Trump, to urge the president to reverse course.
European shares bounced off 14-month lows after four straight sessions of heavy selling, while global oil prices steadied after falling to four-year lows.
Wall Street’s main indexes bounced back as well on hopes that Trump might ease his tariffs.
Europe Eyes Counter-Measures
The European Commission, meanwhile, is mulling counter-tariffs of 25% on a range of U.S. goods including soybeans, nuts and sausages, though other potential items like bourbon whiskey were left off the list. Officials said they stood ready to negotiate.
The 27-member bloc is struggling with tariffs on autos and metals already in place, and faces a 20% tariff on other products on Wednesday. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on EU alcoholic drinks.
European pharma companies, also fearful of the tariff fallout, warned the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a meeting that Trump’s tariffs would expedite the industry’s shift away from Europe and towards the United States.
(With inputs from Reuters)
