Donald Trump’s trade team ready for tariff negotiations as US reacts to China rise

The US government has acknowledged that drafting dozens of parallel trade agreements with countries around the world within three months is an ambitious undertaking.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt admitted that it was a massive task but said the negotiations are a team effort and she praised US President Donald Trump’s trade advisors.

According to the White House, more than 75 countries have contacted the US government so far to work towards a negotiated solution in the international trade conflict.

More than 15 countries have already submitted concrete proposals.

China increased its tariffs on US imports to 125 per cent on Friday, hitting back against Trump’s decision to raise duties on Chinese goods.

Faced with significant turbulence in the stock markets, Trump recently backtracked in the international trade conflict and suspended certain tariffs that had just come into effect for 90 days - with the exception of China.

During this tariff pause, negotiations with the affected countries are expected to take place.

Trump stated that his goal is to use tariffs to pressure other countries into lowering trade barriers for imports from the United States.

The tit-for-tat tariff increases by the US and China stand to make goods trade between the world’s two largest economies impossible, analysts say.

That commerce was worth more than $US650 billion ($A1 trillion) in 2024.

“The president made it very clear: When the United States is punched, he will punch back harder,” Leavitt told reporters on Friday.

While US stocks ended higher, the US dollar slid and a sell-off intensified in US government bonds - the world’s biggest bond market.

Gold, a safe haven for investors in times of crisis, scaled a record high.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is closely monitoring the bond market, Leavitt said.

As China retaliated with new tariffs on Friday, the country’s finance ministry called Trump’s tariffs “completely unilateral bullying and coercion”.

China indicated this would be the last time it matched US tariff rises but left the door open for other types of retaliation.

“If the US truly wants to have talks, it should stop its capricious and destructive behaviour,” Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the US, wrote on social media.

“China will never bow to maximum pressure of the US.”

UBS analysts in a note called China’s declaration “an acknowledgement that trade between the two countries has essentially been completely severed”.

with DPA.