WASHINGTON - US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 23 that he believes that excessively high tariffs between the US and China will have to come down before trade negotiations can proceed, but said President Donald Trump would not unilaterally cut tariffs on Chinese imports.

Mr Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings that de-escalation was necessary for the world’s two largest economies to rebalance their trading relationship.

Asked whether that meant a reduction in the 145 per cent US tariffs on Chinese goods and China’s 125 per cent tariffs on US goods, Mr Bessent said: “I think that has to be, because again, neither side believes that these are sustainable levels. As I said yesterday, this is the equivalent of an embargo and a break between the two countries in trade does not suit anyone’s interest.”

Mr Bessent said there were no plans for Mr Trump to move first in lowering tariffs to de-escalate a bitter US-China trade war, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that there would be “no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China.”

“I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way,” Mr Bessent added.

Mr Bessent said that the Trump administration was working to restore tariff certainty through negotiations with dozens of countries, and he did not think that it would involve an “extended process,” because countries will want to avoid the higher reciprocal tariffs that were announced on April 2.

Mr Bessent also clarified previous remarks about a two- to three-year timeline for a US-China deal, saying that this referred to the full rebalancing process, not the negotiations for a deal, which should happen much faster.

He said earlier that it was time for China to rebalance its economy toward consumption, and called for a joint rebalancing, with the US shifting towards manufacturing.

He said the third quarter of this year is a “reasonable estimate” for achieving clarity on the ultimate level of Mr Trump’s tariffs, and said he was not concerned about the IMF’s steep US growth downgrade by ...