Trump: 'No Tariff Rollback on China Without Market Opening'

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the 25th (local time) that he cannot roll back the tariffs of up to 145% imposed on China unless China makes concessions to open its market.

According to the White House press pool and CNN, President Trump told reporters aboard his private plane en route to Rome, Italy, to attend Pope Francis's funeral, "If China doesn't give something substantial, I won't roll back the tariffs."

When asked what 'substantial concessions' meant, President Trump said, "Free up China, let us go in and work there." He added, "Frankly, that's what we wanted. We almost got it, but they backed off."

This seems to express regret over the first-phase trade agreement reached with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early 2020, which fizzled out after starting a tariff war with China during Trump's first term in 2018.

When asked about the possibility of delaying the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on trading partners other than China for 90 days, President Trump said, "We will negotiate, but we will also make deals. The tariffs we set will be very reasonable, and that will be the end of the negotiations."

Regarding whether the financial markets are adapting to his tariff policy, he claimed, "There will be a transition period. People didn't understand it, but now they are starting to understand." Previously, President Trump repeatedly showed conciliatory gestures after the New York stock market plummeted due to his tariff policy.

On the 9th, after the reciprocal tariffs by country took effect at 12:01 a.m., causing the financial markets to plunge, he announced a 90-day delay on reciprocal tariffs for over 70 countries excluding China, just 13 hours later. Recently, as the tariff war with China intensified, he repeatedly showed his intention to lower tariffs on China.

Reporter Minhyung Lee, Hankyung.com meaning@hankyung.com