President Donald Trump said there may be a point where he doesn’t want to put higher tariffs on China because the move could deter buying.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he may not raise tariffs if China goes beyond the 125% duty it has on American goods.
“At a certain point, I don’t want them to go higher because at a certain point, you make it where people don’t buy,” Trump said when a reporter asked what happens if China raises tariffs on the US.
“I may not want to go higher, or I may not want to even go up to that level — I may want to go to less, because you want people to buy, and at a certain point, people aren’t going to buy,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it wouldn’t pay attention to Trump’s “tariff numbers game” after the White House said Chinese exports face a levy of up to 245%. Last week, Beijing called escalating US tariffs a “joke” and said they no longer hold “any economic significance.”
China is the third-largest buyer of US goods, behind Canada and Mexico. According to US government figures, China bought $143.5 billion worth of American products last year.