Trump Signals Potential End to US-China Tariff Hikes, TikTok Deal on Hold

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled a potential end to the tit-for-tat tariff hikes between the U.S. and China that shocked markets. Trump expressed concerns that higher tariffs could hurt American consumers, stating, “I don't want them to go higher because at a certain point you make it where people don't buy.”

The Republican president had imposed 10% tariffs on most goods entering the country, but delayed the implementation of higher levies pending negotiations. However, he hiked rates on Chinese imports, now totaling 145%, after Beijing retaliated with its own counter-measures. China has since stated it "will not respond" to a "numbers game with tariffs," indicating that across-the-board rates would not rise further.

Trump said China had been in touch since the imposition of tariffs and expressed optimism that the two countries could reach a deal. However, sources indicated that high-level exchanges that could lead to a deal have largely been absent. Trump declined to specify the nature of talks between the countries or whether they directly included Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Regarding the popular social media platform TikTok, Trump said a spin-off deal would likely wait until the trade issue is settled. "We have a deal for TikTok, but it'll be subject to China so we'll just delay the deal 'til this thing works out one way or the other," Trump said. The president has repeatedly extended a legal deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of the short video app used by 170 million Americans.