Trump backs down on high Tariffs? Did Trump chicken out?

[JLW]

US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”

Trump’s remarks, made at a White House news event Tuesday, appear to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond a staggering 145%.

“145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/business/trump-china-trade-war-reduction-hnk-intl/index.html

Trump “chickens out” is trending on Chinese social media.

MSN

***************************

I put a question mark to the title because Trump is erratic. What he says today may not be what he says tomorrow.

I for one support a cool down on this inane Trade War.

I don’t consider it “chickening out” if you change your name for the good of all.

Trump acted on instinct when imposing these tariffs and had no real plan or end game.

Well if one thing is true at this point, Trump takes us to the brink of disaster, then pulls us back, only to do it again and again.

Trump’s actions have already taken a heavy toll on the reputation and standing of the USA around the world.


It is a game he plays that may one day add very badly.

 

[Zincwarrior]

US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”

(looks at watch) this will change with the next camera, and then change again this afternoon, and then change tonight with the next series of Trump Social texts. Thats the problem. Its chaos.

 

[JLW]

(looks at watch) this will change with the next camera, and then change again this afternoon, and then change tonight with the next series of Trump Social texts. Thats the problem. Its chaos.

I am afraid that may be true.

 

[JLW]

Apparently Trump “chickens out” is trending in China.

I guess they know how to troll as well as anyone.

I would add, as I did in the OP, pulling back from the brink of a crash is not “chickening out.” It is smart, though this was a fight Trump instigated and is now seeking a face saving way out…today anyway.

 

[Darkwind]

So, what is the truth here? What was the 'condition' in which Trump would be willing to negotiate a lower tariff?

The media cannot be trusted to tell your grandmother that you are alive if you were standing next to her breathing.

 

[XponentialChaos]

I think I figured it out. His tariff policy is coming from shaking one of those magic 8 balls every day.

“Should I soften my tariffs on China?”

 

[MarcATL]

Yes OP, Trump most certainly chickened out.

 

[1srelluc]

(looks at watch) this will change with the next camera, and then change again this afternoon, and then change tonight with the next series of Trump Social texts. Thats the problem. Its chaos.

Nice DNC buzz word.

 

[Zincwarrior]

Nice DNC buzz word.

Its accurate.

 

[schmidlap]

US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”

Trump’s remarks, made at a White House news event Tuesday, appear to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond a staggering 145%.

“145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/business/trump-china-trade-war-reduction-hnk-intl/index.html

Trump “chickens out” is trending on Chinese social media.

MSN

***************************

I put a question mark to the title because Trump is erratic. What he says today may not be what he says tomorrow.

I for one support a cool down on this inane Trade War.

I don’t consider it “chickening out” if you change your name for the good of all.

Trump acted on instinct when imposing these tariffs and had no real plan or end game.

Well if one thing is true at this point, Trump takes us to the brink of disaster, then pulls us back, only to do it again and again.

Trump’s actions have already taken a heavy toll on the reputation and standing of the USA around the world.


It is a game he plays that may one day add very badly.

The blowhard, having befouled the economy, is now running away.

He's wimping out on China, and backing down on firing the Fed Chair.

Trump has kicked off his term with an aggressive economic agenda, sparking trade wars as he slaps tariffs on major U.S. trading partners, trying to pressure the Federal Reserve to bend to his will and setting off the worst selloff in U.S. financial markets since the early months of the COVID pandemic five years ago.

Just 37% of respondents to the six-day poll that concluded on Monday approve of Trump's handling of the economy, down from 42% in the hours after his January 20 inauguration, when he promised to supercharge the economy and bring about a "Golden Age of America." The reading is well below than at any point in his first term, when it ranged from the mid-40's to mid-50's.

"You have a president who promised a golden age," said James Pethokoukis, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "But everything that's supposed to be up is down, everything that's supposed to be down is up."...​

​

 

[d0gbreath]

Nice DNC buzz word.

I don't care for buzz words either. But, sometimes a spade is a spade, and substitute words just don't convey the true meaning.

 

[M14 Shooter]

US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”

Trump’s remarks, made at a White House news event Tuesday, appear to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond a staggering 145%.

“145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/business/trump-china-trade-war-reduction-hnk-intl/index.html

Trump “chickens out” is trending on Chinese social media.

Is there a timeframe for any of this? No?
Is it unconditional? No?
What then is the basis for the idea Trump has chickened out?

 

[M14 Shooter]

Its accurate.

For people who do not understand the meaning of the term - sure.

 

[my2¢]

When it comes to corporate interest vs. the government, on this issue the economy favored the corporate side from the start. Factories just don't sprout instantly; any return of our manufacturing base will require a long-term plan. China also had time on its side as American leadership is more at risk from negative public attitude.

Did Trump chicken out? I sure didn't agree with his strategy and so I am glad he reassessed things. I see it more as him listening to his corporate supporters and coming to his senses.

 

[Leo123]

Trump is negotiating, the press is in full blown panic mode like a bunch of hysterical pre-teen girls..

 

[g5000]

Trump is negotiating

 

[g5000]

Trump blinked not once, but twice.

He backed off on his Chinese tariffs, and he caved on his threats to fire Powell.

He pissed off tens of millions of Americans by crashing the stock market.

What's more, 50 percent of the stock market is owned by the top 1 percent. I shit you not.

The top 10 percent own 93 percent of the stock market.

These are the last people an idiot president wants to piss off.

 

[John Edgar Slow Horses]

I hear that it is Austan D. Goolsbee whom Trump is really afraid of.

He is the President of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and five times tougher than Trump.

Goolsbee intimated that if Trump even intimated he was going to fired Powell that the fed would have Trump's live for lunch with onion.

 

[Missourian]

Unwritten rules of a messageboard... number 22:

If the headline contains a question mark, the answer is always the one that is least advantageous to the OPs bias.

Applying rule 22, the answer to the headline question is decidedly 'no'.

/Thread.

 

[dudmuck]

Trump is negotiating, the press is in full blown panic mode like a bunch of hysterical pre-teen girls..