The administration later walked back its initial proposal, and announced April 9 it would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, but scale back reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. In response, China proceeded to boost its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, discussed the goals of the Trump administration's trade policy and the role China plays in it. Hear his comments in the video above.