‘If we don’t [agree], we’re going to have a deal anyway, because we will set a certain target, and that’s going to be it,’ the president says.
President Donald Trump said on April 17 that China has contacted his administration to negotiate amid an ongoing tariff war, and signaled that a deal on divesting TikTok from its Beijing-based partner company may wait for now.
While speaking with reporters during an executive order signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that top Chinese officials had reached out “a lot” after he raised tariffs on the nation to 145 percent.
“I believe we’re going to have a deal with China, and if we don’t, we’re going to have a deal anyway, because we will set a certain target, and that’s going to be it,” Trump said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration is confident that it will work out a deal with China that is beneficial for both nations.
China recently increased tariffs on U.S. imports from 84 to 125 percent, in retaliation for Trump’s 145 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports into the United States. Some Chinese goods, like electric vehicles and syringes, face 245 percent tariffs due to previous sector-related tariff carve-outs.
Trump had imposed 25 percent tariffs on electric vehicles from China during his first term, which President Joe Biden increased to 100 percent in 2024.
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On April 17, Trump was asked if he thought China would go higher than 125 percent with its retaliatory tariffs on America.
“I don’t want them to go higher, because at a certain point you make it where people don’t buy,” Trump said, referring to U.S. goods.
Trump said he may delay brokering a deal to divest TikTok from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, while working on a tariff agreement with China. Congress passed a law in 2024 requiring TikTok’s American operations to cut ties with China or face a ban in the United States, citing national security concerns.
“We have a deal for TikTok, but it‘ll be subject to China,” Trump told reporters on April 17. “So we’ll just delay the deal till this [tariff negotiation] works out. And I think it’s a good deal for China.”
The president said he believes it’s in China’s interest to reach a deal on TikTok with his administration due to the app’s value in the American market, particularly with the number of businesses that use it for commerce.
Trump added that he may consider China’s willingness to sign a TikTok deal while negotiating an end to the trade war.
“It’s a natural [thing] if we’re making a deal. I guess we’ll spend five minutes to talk about TikTok. It wouldn’t take very long,” he said.
Trump suggested he has “plenty of time” to broker a deal with China on tariffs, citing his talks with countries like Japan and Mexico to negotiate their tariffs.
“The problem is, it’s only so many hours in the day. I think we’re going to make a deal with China. We’re going to make a deal with everybody,” he said. “And if we don’t make a deal, we‘ll just set a target and we’ll live with that, and it’ll be fine.”
The escalating tariff war with China could be concluded “over the next three or four weeks,” Trump added.
“You have to understand, think of us as a big, beautiful department store,” he said. “Everybody wants a piece of that store. China wants it. Japan wants it. Mexico, Canada, they live off it.”
Without a deal, Trump said he would simply set a tariff and some parameters, “and we‘ll say, ’come in and shop.’”
“They may not like that, and they may find it, or the market may find it too high,” he said. “Then they‘ll come back and say, ’Well, we think this is too high, and we‘ll negotiate.’”
Trump said China has a “right not to” make a deal with his administration, and emphasized the United States has “something that nobody else has, and that’s the American consumer.”
