Trump Says He'll 'Think About' Car Seat Tariff Exemption
President Donald Trump, responding to a reporter's quote from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that the administration is considering tariff exemptions for car seats from China [see Ref:2505060052]), said he doesn't know if he wants to do that.
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"I'll think about it," he said. "I want to make it nice and simple," he added, and said he doesn't want there to be "so many exemptions." The Section 301 tariff action in his first term had thousands of exemptions, including safety gear like bike helmets and car seats.
Trump, who spoke on May 7 just after former Sen. David Purdue was sworn in as ambassador to China, didn't give any specifics on what he is seeking from China to de-escalate the trade war, but said that China's president was ready to stop the flow of fentanyl and its chemical precursors at the end of 2020. Trump said if he had been reelected after his first term, Xi Jinping "would have honored the deal."
In response to another reporter's question, Trump repeated his position from a "Meet the Press" interview, that he won't retreat from the 145% tariff rate to spur negotiations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will tack on two days of talks with China's vice premier after the pair talks to the Swiss president about reciprocal tariffs.
In China, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson at a regular press conference was asked why China is willing to talk, given officials had earlier said they wouldn't talk while 145% tariffs were in place.
The ministry said the vice premier had already been going to Switzerland to talk to its leaders, and that the U.S. had been asking for this meeting. The spokesperson said China is open to dialogue but will not be coerced.