Trump sends markets wild with promise for 'fair' trade deal with China (2025)

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Markets spiked Wednesday after President Donald Trump and his Treasury secretary spoke optimistically about a deal to lower tariffs on China amid a disruptive trade war.

Trump commented to reporters Wednesday about a potential deal with China, after slapping on tariffs totalling 145%, and prompting retaliatory tariffs of 125% by Beijing.

'It's going to be fair,' Trump said.

'Everybody wants to be a part of what we're doing. They know that they can't get away with it any longer, but they're still going to do fine, and we're going to have a country that you can be proud of,' Trump said.

Markets were already rallying when Trump spoke, after he also took a softer tone toward the Number Two economic power during Tuesday afternoon comment.

Trump yesterday said the current tariff is 'very high, and it won’t be that high. ... No, it won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who helped bring about a pause on Trump's initial 'reciprocal' tariffs, also said Wednesday the U.S. and China have the chance to make a 'big deal' on trade.

'If they want to rebalance, let’s do it together,' he said. That is a sharp turn from earlier this month, when China slammed 'ignorant' and 'direspectful' rhetoric from Vice President JD Vance amid the escalating trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 800 points amid the optimism of the world's two largest trading powers might be walking back from the brink.

Trump also helped calm markets after trading closed Tuesday when he said he had 'no intention of firing' Fed chair Jerome Powell. His earlier comments spooked markets when he repeatedly demanded Powell lower interest rates and ridiculed him as a 'major loser.'

U.S. markets have been battered since Trump unveiled his 'Liberation Day' tariffs, although they experienced a rally after Trump imposed a 90-day 'pause' on 'reciprocal' tariffs he imposed on more than 60 countries.

Trump sparked another market selloffMonday when he attacked Powell over interest rates, saying he 'is always too late and wrong.'

He also mocked him as 'Mr. Too Late, a major loser.'

The Wall Street Journal cited a senior White House official who said tariffs were likely to come down between 50 and 65 percent. Also under consideration is a 'tiered' approach that could have a lower tariff on non-security goods and bigger ones on items the U.S. says are in the national interest.

Despite the market enthusiasm, Trump's latest comments still revealed his belief in tariffs, which he imposed by citing an emergency designation, and determination to maintain them.

He described the tariffs as 'making money' for the treasury – although economists predict companies will pass on most of the cost to U.S. consumers.

'This country is not going to be losing money on trade anymore. We are losing $2 trillion a year on trade. Now we're going to be making money, a lot of money. So that's very good.,' said Trump.

'Every country wants to partake, even countries that have ripped us off for many, many years, China as an example. But it's not just China, European Union. They ripped us off for many, many years. And those days are over. We're going to make a lot of money for our people.'

On Wednesday at a meeting with the president of Azerbaijan, Chinese President Xi Jinping condemned trade wars in language that might easily have been used by a past U.S. president.

He said trade wars 'undermine the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, hurt the multilateral trading system and impact the world economic order', according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

BeijingPoliticsChinaDonald Trump

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