China’s defiant stance in negotiating a tariff truce with the U.S. has convinced some countries they need to take a tougher position in their own trade talks with the Trump administration.
The pause reached a week ago gave structure to what promise to be prolonged and difficult rounds of talks between Washington and Beijing, which still faces average U.S. import taxes near 50% when past levies are factored into the 30% rate agreed to in Geneva, Switzerland.
Yet U.S. President Donald Trump’s willingness to retreat so much from the earlier 145% duty on China surprised governments from Seoul to Brussels that have so far stuck with the U.S.’s request to negotiate rather than retaliate against its tariffs.
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