WASHINGTON — President Trump said Tuesday that he won’t engage in “hardball” trade negotiations with China or mention COVID-19 — hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a prolonged US trade war with Beijing was unsustainable.
“No, I’m not going to mention COVID. I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, I’m going to play hardball with China, I’m going to play hardball with you, President Xi.’ No, we’re going to be very nice,” Trump told a Post reporter in the Oval Office.
“We’ll see what happens. But ultimately, they have to make a deal, because otherwise they’re not going to be able to deal in the United States. And we want them involved.”
Trump said the current tariff rate on China won't stay at the current level.
"145% is very high, and it won't be that high," Trump said. "No, it won't be anywhere near that high. It'll come down substantially. But it won't be zero ‒ used to be zero. We were just destroyed. China was taking us for a ride."