The administration later walked back its initial proposal, and announced April 9 it would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, but scale back reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. In response, China proceeded to boost its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to say whether the U.S. and China are in direct communication and whether President Trump has been in touch with President Xi.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said he believes the Trump administration could strike a deal with China.