Trump says he expects to lower fentanyl-linked tariffs on China

AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he expects to reduce U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals.

Early this year Trump imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese imports over what he described as Beijing's failure to curb the flow of precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, which has caused nearly 450,000 U.S. overdose deaths.

Those tariffs have remained in effect despite a fragile trade truce reached by both sides in subsequent talks, as the two superpowers did not make progress on the issue in the absence of decisive action targeting traffickers by China.

For its part, Beijing has strongly defended its chemical control record and accused Washington of using fentanyl to "blackmail" China.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jarrett Renshaw and Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Lincoln Feast.)