President Donald Trump firmly declared Wednesday that he will not relax the 145% tariffs placed on most Chinese imports as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with Beijing.

Trump was speaking to reporters after introducing former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., as his nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to China. The event aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.

A reporter asked the president, “China says in order to have substantive negotiations, you have to bring down your 145% tariffs. Are you open to pulling back your tariffs in order to get China to the negotiating table?”

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