May 12, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement congratulating President Donald Trump, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the Trump administration and the Chinese trade delegation on the successful negotiation of the new U.S.-China trade agreement:
“This is President Trump’s art of the deal. As the country with the $295 billion trade deficit, vis a vis China, the U.S. always had all the leverage in the negotiation over tariffs — if only there was a president with the strength to use it. By courageously raising tariffs as high as 145 percent, President Trump forced that negotiation to occur, showing leadership at a time others would have surrendered. As it turned out, China needed a deal more than the U.S. did. All the U.S. needed was patience.
“Originally, President Trump’s tariffs on China from the first administration that former President Joe Biden never rescinded were 25 percent on $250 billion of goods and another 7.5 percent on all the remaining $300 billion of goods. Upon assuming office on January 20, President Trump instituted an additional 10 percent tariff to encourage help on stopping the deadly fentanyl trade on February 1, which was raised to 20 percent on March 3. On April 2, the reciprocal tariff rate was then set to 34 percent. Afterward, China retaliated big time and so President Trump again raised the reciprocal tariff to 84 percent on April 8 and then to 125 percent on April 9.
“Combined with the fentanyl tariff, that brought the total tariff to 145 percent — and brought China to the table.
“Now, under the new trade agreement, the baseline reciprocal tariff has been lowered to 10 percent, the 20 percent fentanyl tariff is remaining in place and so are the 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion of goods and 7.5 percent on the remaining $300 billion of goods. They’re all being added together — and China agreed to this. The tariffs are therefore now still higher than they were prior to January 20. And if China does not honor the deal or if the negotiations go south, the tariffs can always go higher again.”
Correction: The combined tariff is close to 50 percent, not 30 percent.
Attachments:
“The Art Of The Deal,” By Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz, 1987, pp. 17: “The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you can have. Leverage is having something the other guy wants. Or better yet, needs. Or best of all, simply can’t do without.”
For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.
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