Bitcoin's recent momentum could be facing new headwinds as President Donald Trump doubled down on his aggressive trade stance toward China, stating he is “not open to pulling back the 145% tariffs” imposed on Chinese goods.
The remark, made during a press briefing late Wednesday, signals continued economic pressure between the world’s two largest economies — and injects fresh uncertainty into global markets, including crypto.
As per Kraken's price feed, Bitcoin was trading at $96,541 at press time, up 2% in the past 24 hours, but traders are watching for volatility.
Trump said the U.S. was earlier losing a trillion dollars every year in trade with China but isn't losing anything now. "That's the way I look at it," he added.
In response to a question about China claiming that the U.S. initiated the trade talks this week, Trump responded, "They said we initiated? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files."
Note that Trump hiked tariffs on all the countries on Apr. 2 and dubbed it "Liberation Day." However, he was quick to pause the tariff hikes on all countries except China for 90 days on Apr. 9.
Related: Tariff Live Updates: China lifts sanctions on EU lawmakers amid Trump's tariff war
The U.S. is negotiating trade deals with several countries, such as the U.K., Canada, and India, by leveraging the tariff escalations.
After much back and forth, even the U.S. and China are finally set to meet in Geneva on May 10. The U.S. envoy to China will handle consequential, complex issues, Trump told the reporters.
The tariff war sent shockwaves into the crypto market as its market cap slipped from over $2.8 trillion to as low as $2.5 trillion. However, it has managed to recover and stood at over $3 trillion at the time of writing.