‘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.
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.
Trump recently extended the divest-or-ban deadline for TikTok—originally slated for April 5—by 75 days.
“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.”
By Jacob Burg
