Where does the ongoing tariff deal debate stand? The US and China are believed to be privately engaging in trade talks over potentially settling the tumultuous tariff war. On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that America is having “nice conversations going with China.”
“It’s like, really very good,” he attempted to offer reassurance without presenting any further details on the matter. He’s previously also maintained that Chinese representatives from Beijing have reached out “a number of times.”
Tariff deal: Have Donald Trump and Xi Jinping talked?
On Thursday, a reporter outrightly popped the question to Trump: “Have you evert talked directly to President Xi?” To which he replied, “I don’t wanna say that. It’s just not appropriate.” The Republican president has since insisted that a potential tariff deal with China will be reached in the next three to four weeks.
When pushed again to answer Chinese President Xi had reached out to him, the POTUS said, “Well, you’d think it was pretty obvious that he has. But we will talk about that soon. It’s not that important because, honestly, we’re gonna have a deal. I believe we’re gonna have a deal with China, and if we don’t, we’re gonna have a deal anyway because we’re gonna set a certain target and that’s gonna be it.”
China and US in discussion? Where do they stand on potential tariff deal
Similarly, ABC News reported how for the first time, Trump admitted to the two countries being closer to a deal on tariffs. As some Republicans continue to be skeptical on this front, Selina Wang, the news outlet’s senior White House correspondent said, “Yesterday, President Trump indicated that the Chinese and American teams are actually in discussion.”
However, as Wang pointed out, when reached out to the White House’s top economic adviser, inquiring if Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were talking or if the Chinese had reached out, the official remained silent on the issue. “He wouldn’t provide any indication. He wouldn’t even confirm or deny what the president said yesterday, and this also comes as Beijing has given no public indication that they’re willing to come to the table and negotiate,” Wang revealed.
“They have been defiant and experts on China trade say that China has been developing relations over the years with other nations they believed that they can take this economic hit and they’re not willing to simply cave to the Trump administration’s demands.”
90-day tariff pause running out of time
Meanwhile, the time is ticking on the US president’s 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs. Despite China’s notable defiance, Trump has repeatedly expressed his optimism regarding plans of being able to strike wide-ranging trade deals within this time period. As tariffs on China currently stand at 145%, Trump suggested that he may not raise them further. “I may want to go to less because you know, you want people to buy and, at a certain point, people aren’t gonna buy,” he told reporters at the White House.
With that in mind, Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sat down in Washington to talk trade between the US and Europe this week. Even then, he beamed with confidence: “There will be a trade deal, 100%… but it will be a fair deal.” Meloni also acknowledged about being “sure” on about an agreement beign reached eventually, adding that she was focussed on the goal to “make the West great again.”
What if there’s no US-China deal?
In case the purported conversations with China don’t leap forward, Trump administrations officials have already discussed the possibility of forming a task force handle the China tariff impact with urgency, multiple sources shared with CBS News. Although we don’t have any official word on this front yet, the working group could include Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, Council of Economic Advisers chairman Stephen Miran and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to sources’ intel.