'China tariffs may come down, but...': Trump changed his mind on Beijing trade war - What will happen next?

In a potential U-turn, US President Donald Trump announced that the tariffs on China may be significantly reduced if a deal is reached, however, stressed that it wont come down to zero. 

Trump on Tuesday (April 22) indicated that the 145% tariffs on China is "very high", and it wont be that high. 

“145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”

However, a White House fact sheet released recently, said that China faces up to 245% tariff. However, this figure refers to the cumulative effect of multiple tariffs on specific products, such as electric vehicles and syringes, rather than a new, blanket 245 percent tariff imposed by the US administration.

Trump made the comments when he was asked that the high tariff rates between the US and China have effectively embargoed trade between the economies.

As he plans on going easy on China now, Trump said, "We're going to be very nice and they’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens.”

Following Trump's remarks, China's Foreign Ministry said the US "can’t say it wants to reach an agreement with China and on the other hand keeps exerting extreme pressure.”

“This is not the right way to deal with China and it is not feasible," the ministry added. 

The ministry urged the US to conduct dialogue with China on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, saying such an approach was necessary for any future trade deal to take shape.

Moreover, earlier today, China said that it was open to holding trade talks with the US. 

"We do not wish to fight, nor are we afraid of fighting," said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a regular press conference, adding that China would "fight to the end", if necessary.