Megan Cassella

Pres. Trump expands a bit on his call with Xi: "We have a deal with China, as you know, but we were straightening out some of the points, having to do mostly with rare earth magnets and some other things." Reduced tariff rates negotiated in Geneva remain in effect, he says.

Chinese state media reports that Presidents Trump and Xi had a phone call today: https://t.co/fnumHlOAsR

Sec. Lutnick confirms this is the case: "The 10% baseline is for countries that have balanced budget with us, that are the best, and those who had trade deficits are going to have a higher tariff," he says on CNBC. "The best they can do is 10% -- most likely they'll be higher."

Megan Cassella @mmcassella

The most significant takeaway from today's UK trade announcement for me is that for a country that a) the US has a rare trade surplus with and b) had already been negotiating with the US for ~a decade, the best the UK could get was a 10% baseline tariff with very few exemptions

Pres. Trump tells @EamonJavers the 10% baseline tariff the U.K. is facing as a result of this deal is a "low number" because the U.K. made a "good deal." Some other countries will face "much higher" tariffs, he says.

Pres. Trump says he believes this weekend's talks with China will be "substantive." (Sec. Bessent has downplayed the meeting as just the start of talks, a sit-down where they "agree what they're going to talk about.")

Though vague, this seems to me like a new shade of potential flexibility -- coming after he's repeatedly said he would not lower tariffs to get China to the negotiating table.

Megan Cassella @mmcassella

Pres. Trump, asked if he would lower tariffs on China if this weekend's talks go well, replies: "Well, it could be. I mean, we're going to see. Right now, you can't get any higher -- it's at 145% -- so we know it's coming down."

Pres. Trump, asked if he would lower tariffs on China if this weekend's talks go well, replies: "Well, it could be. I mean, we're going to see. Right now, you can't get any higher -- it's at 145% -- so we know it's coming down."

In the Oval Office just now, Commerce Sec. Lutnick confirms the 10% baseline tariff will remain on all imports from the U.K.

A day after he told reporters he wished they would stop asking him when trade deals were coming, Trump teases a “major trade deal” coming tomorrow morning. https://t.co/MF5qViq3Ha

RT @LaMonicaBuzz: Very interesting that Fed alluded to trade right off the bat. First line of statement. "Although swings in net exports ha…

Asked whether he'll exempt certain baby gear items from tariffs, Pres. Trump tells reporters: "I don't know. I'll think about it. ... I'll take a look at it." Comes just after Sec. Bessent told lawmakers earlier today that such an exemption was "under consideration."