- Tariffs on China will remain at their current levels, according to Stephen Miran, a key architect of President Donald Trump’s trade policies. Miran’s comments come at a time when the administration is trying to calm nervous investors but offering mixed signals.
Investors hoping for a breakthrough in President Donald Trump’s trade negotiations with China will have to wait a little longer. Trump’s top economic advisor said Wednesday there was no change to the ongoing tariff policy against the country.
During a panel at the Hill and Valley Forum, an annual gathering of tech executives, venture capital investors, and public officials in Washington, D.C., chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Stephen Miran said the White House’s tariffs on China would continue.
“I don’t see any immediate change to that,” Miran said.
Miran is one of the most ardent supporters of the tariffs that Trump announced earlier this month. Before his current role in government, Miran was a strategist at Hudson Bay Capital where he authored a 41-page memo that serves as a guide for the Trump administration’s current tariff policy. Both Miran and the White House have characterized the memo as an analysis of policy options rather than a recommendation for a specific one.
Tariffs, Miran argues, are critical to counteracting what he sees as a series of unfair trade practices by China, while simultaneously spurring increased investment in the U.S.’s manufacturing sector. Miran alleged China subsidizes exports to harm foreign competitors and that it unfairly restricted U.S. companies that operate in the country.
“There’s all sorts of asymmetries in that trading relationship,” Miran said. “The reciprocal tariffs the president put on China are reflective of that asymmetry, and a corrective on that asymmetry. So tariffs absolutely play a role.”
Most imports from China are subject to 145% tariffs. Last week Trump had said it was possible tariffs would come down from their current level.
“It won’t be anywhere near that high,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office. “It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”
Miran’s comments indicate that, at least for now, tariffs will stay high.
Tariffs have roiled the markets since they were announced on April 2. Global stocks underwent a massive selloff, U.S. Treasury yields soared, and the dollar sank, signaling an unprecedented amount of doubt in the U.S. economy. To assuage investors, various administration officials have said that several trade deals with foreign countries are on the horizon. Investors hope that those will both provide clarity about the future of the U.S.’s trading relationships, while also hopefully lifting certain tariffs, thereby lowering costs for businesses and consumers.
Miran himself reportedly met with leaders from the financial industry, who left the meeting unimpressed, according to the Financial Times. Attendees at the meeting told the FT Miran was “incoherent” and “out of his depth.”
Over the past week or so, government officials have offered mixed signals about the White House’s future plans for tariffs. Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said U.S. and Chinese government officials had been in contact at many “touchpoints.” Trump also said he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the Chinese foreign ministry denied that report.
Bessent also said that it was China’s responsibility to “de-escalate” any trade tensions. However, Trump opined it was his view China would “eat” the tariffs he had imposed.
Update, May 1, 2025: This article was updated to reflect that both the White House and Miran have referred to the latter’s trade memo as a policy analysis rather than a recommendation.
