US President Donald Trump stated that the 145 percent tariffs on the majority of Chinese imports will stay in effect “for now,” despite upcoming trade negotiations between US and Chinese officials scheduled to take place in Switzerland this week.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of David Perdue as the new US Ambassador to China, Trump said the US was no longer facing massive trade losses as it once did.

“We were losing a trillion dollars a year, now we’re not losing anything. That’s the way I look at it,” Trump was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

When questioned in the Oval Office about the possibility of lowering tariffs to encourage China’s return to the negotiating table, President Trump bluntly responded, “No.”

He also dismissed China’s assertion that the United States had initiated this week’s round of trade discussions. “They said we initiated? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files,” he added.

According to CNN, US stock markets dipped slightly following President Trump’s remarks and have continued to trend downward since the official announcement of the tariff decision.

Trade between the world’s two largest economies has largely come to a standstill since the onset of the tariff dispute in March. However, this week’s meeting between senior US and Chinese trade officials marks the first formal round of negotiations since then, CNN reported.