AsianFin -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signaled he could talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping soon after China and the United States agreed to lower most of their elevated tariffs temporarily.

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

“I’ll speak to President Xi, maybe at the end of the week,” Trump said at the White House. Trump said the talks with China in Switzerland were friendly and that he is not looking to hurt the country. The president claimed China had agreed to “suspend and remove all of its non-monetary barriers.”

“They’ve agreed to open China, fully open China. And I think it’s going to be fantastic for China. I think it’s going to be fantastic for us, and I think it’s going to be great for unification and peace,” Trump said.

When asked if China tariffs will go back up to 145% if a longer-term deal is not made after 90 days, Trump responds: “No, but they would go up substantially higher,” adding he thinks there will be a deal.

Beijing and Washington on Sunday announced a 90-day truce in the trade war between the world’s top two economies. Following talks with Chinese officials in Geneva during the weekend, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the two countries had agreed to a 90-day pause on further trade measures, with reciprocal tariffs set to drop by 115%.

The U.S. said it will lower reciprocal tariffs of 125% on Chinese goods to 10%, and a 20% tariff tied to the fentanyl crisis will remain. China said it will accordingly cut its tariffs on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. China will also adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2. The two countries will also establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations, and the discussions may be conducted alternately in China and the United States, or a third country upon agreement of both sides.