Trump signs order to lower postage tariffs with China, slams EU's trade practise as "very unfair"

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will lower tariffs on postal items from China from 120% to 54%.

According to the document, the changes will come into effect at 00:01 on May 14, US Eastern Time. At the same time, the minimum fixed fee for sending will still be $100, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Russian state news agency TASS.

Trump previously announced that the tariff imposed on parcels sent to the United States from China would be increased to 120%. She also said that from May 2, goods from China worth $800 and below would no longer be exempt from duties.

The United States raised additional tariffs on Chinese imports three times, eventually reaching 145%. In April, China, as a countermeasure, mirrored tariffs on all American products, bringing them to 125%. Negotiations on trade and economic issues between the United States and China were held in Switzerland on May 10-11. On May 12, the parties announced a mutual reduction of duties from May 14, 2025.

Meanwhile, Politico reported on Trump's recent comments on the European Union's actions in response to Washington and Beijing agreeing to slash respective punitive tariffs and de-escalate their trade war.

"European Union is in many ways nastier than China, okay?" Trump said, as he lashed the bloc. "Oh, they'll come down a lot. You watch. We have all the cards. They treat us very unfairly."

Despite several attempts at negotiating with Washington to remove Trump’s tariffs on European goods, the EU has yet to achieve a breakthrough.

Trump's heated new remarks come as Washington and Beijing agreed to slash so-called reciprocal tariffs against each other, after talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese officials in Switzerland.

Although Trump has already met with a host of European leaders, von der Leyen has yet to nail down her own meeting — saying last week she’d only meet the U.S. president if there's a “concrete” trade package that can be negotiated.

Brussels last week dangled a list of potential concessions — including regulatory easing and joint efforts to curb Chinese overproduction — and threatened tariffs on €95 billion worth of U.S. goods if talks stall. Trump's trade hawk Peter Navarro condemned the mooted counteroffensive as provocative.

By Khagan Isayev