Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during a recent interview that President Trump’s administration is looking to deescalate the ongoing tariff war but first will need to get the China trade dispute “right.”
“So I think the president would like to work it out with China, as he said, he’d like to deescalate it. But look, he’s not going to live with a trillion-dollar deficit,” Lutnick said Friday during his appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”
“He’s just not going to do it. So the idea is de-escalate, but let’s get China trade right, and let’s get trade deals with the rest of the world,” he continued. “Let’s cut our trade deficit down. Let’s grow our GDP.”
The commerce chief added, “I think the President can grow our GDP 3 percent, I mean, I think this president’s got it right. He’s got it dead right, and he’s doing everything he’s supposed to be doing.”
Lutnick’s remarks came just ahead of scheduled trade talks between the U.S. and China in Switzerland. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lead the U.S. delegation for talks in Geneva opposite Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
It will be the first in-person interaction between the two sides since Trump last month imposed a 125 percent tariff, paired with an existing 20 percent, on goods coming from China. In response, Beijing hit Washington with a 125 percent duty on imports from the U.S.
Trump indicated earlier Friday that he is willing to lessen the tariff pressure on China, suggesting he could lower import taxes down to 80 percent. But, he said, it’s “up to Scott B.”
The president late last month put a 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs introduced during his “Liberation Day” announcement, but Beijing was notably left out. A 10 percent baseline tariff is still in play on nearly all trading partners.
Lutnick on Friday said there is “no chance” import taxes would be completed paused between the U.S. and China, even after the talks in Switzerland.
“They come down to a human level, right to a level where we do business. There are significant tariffs. The President is going to keep significant tariffs on trade with China,” he told host Laura Ingraham. “That is his objective. That’s his expectation that should be everybody’s expectation.”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, alongside Bessent, will also participate in the trade discussions.
The weekend talks come after the U.S. struck its first trade deal earlier this week. Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the agreement on Thursday, which includes billions of dollars of increased market access for U.S. exports, particularly in agriculture.
