The tariff crisis

Trump's tariff policy
Bessent on China tariffs: "We need to scale back"

The United States plans to scale back its trade war with China. This was stated by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for Fox Business Network, Reuters reports.

He emphasizes that China wants to reach a settlement, but that he sees a process in several stages.

- First we need to scale back, and then over time we will start to focus on a larger trade agreement.
The tariff crisis • Trump's tariff policy
Trump: Children may be allowed to have two dolls instead of 30

Donald Trump admits that his China tariffs could lead to fewer and more expensive products in the United States, reports AP.

- Maybe children may be allowed to have two dolls instead of 30, and maybe these dolls cost a few dollars more than usual, he says during a cabinet meeting.

Ultimately, however, China will suffer more from the trade war, the president claims.

Advisor: Close to progress with China on tariffs

Donald Trump's top economic advisor Kevin Hassett is hopeful about making progress on trade with China, he says in an interview with CNBC. He does not mention any negotiations, but says that it is about "loose discussions" between the two governments.

Hassett emphasizes that China recently eased some tariffs.

- I think the fact that the tariffs were abolished last week shows that we are very close to making the progress we need to drive development forward, he continues.

The top advisor also tells the channel that he expects news about the tariffs before the end of the day.

Reactions to the tariffs
EU offers Trump a quick solution for 550 billion

The EU wants to offer to increase purchases of American goods by 50 billion euros, equivalent to 550 billion kronor, to solve the problems in trade relations. This is what the EU's Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told the Financial Times, adding that the parties have made some progress.

However, the top negotiator is signaling that the EU will not accept Trump's general tariffs of 10 percent as part of a fair deal.

In the talks, Sefcovic has highlighted the fact that Europe buys a lot of services from the US and that the EU's trade deficit, including these, is 50 billion euros.

If the parties agree on that amount, Sefcovic believes that it will be fixed quickly.

- I think we can solve this problem very quickly by buying liquefied natural gas, or some agricultural products such as soybeans or in other areas, he tells the FT.