(Radio Iowa) – President Trump says he and China’s president will review and likely approve a deal to end trade tensions between the two countries. Some Iowa small business owners say they’ve been struggling under current tariff policies. Shop owners in the Valley Junction area of West Des Moines say getting products for their stores from domestic factories isn’t realistic. Steve Frevert, director of the Historic Valley Junction Foundation, says these businesses make up the vibrant, walkable spaces people love to visit.

“Retail has been steadily evaporating from American downtowns for decades, but here in Valley Junction, we’ve worked hard to bring that back, and we’re succeeding,” Frevert says. “Something like this, these unpredictable across-the-board tariffs, really set us back.” Val Voicek, owner of Bing’s gift shop, says she had to raise prices because of the tariffs, at the same time customers have stopped buying “trinkety” things. “I’ve had a lot of people in the past say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna buy this right now and save it for a gift for later, for Christmas,’ That’s just not happening,” she says. “People are just buying for right now, and that’s it.”

Trump announced in an online post this (Wednesday) morning that U-S tariffs on most imports from China would be 55 percent, while China will impose a 10 percent tariff on most U-S imports and will release shipments of batteries and rare earth minerals to the U-S. Trump says Chinese students also will be able to use U-S universities, which he say on social media has always been good with him.