"At a certain point, I don't want them to go higher because at a certain point, you make it where people don't buy. I may not want to go higher, or I may not want to even go up to that level — I may want to go to less, because you want people to buy, and at a certain point, people aren't going to buy," Trump said.

The US and China have escalated import duties in an economic clash between the two superpowers, part of a broader wave of sweeping tariffs that Trump has sought to impose on trading partners. He has hiked new levies to a combined 145% on Chinese goods. Beijing has retaliated with duties of 125% on US goods.

The White House insists that China must take the initiative to re-engage, while Beijing claims it is still unclear about Washington’s specific demands.

President Trump also announced that a decision on the TikTok deal will be delayed.