JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<p>Always display the 'x':</p>

<div class="clearable-input">
  <input type="text" />
  <span data-clear-input>&times;</span>
</div>

<div class="clearable-input">
  <input type="text" value="Clear this." />
  <span data-clear-input>&times;</span>
</div>

CSS

.clearable-input {
  position: relative;
  display: inline-block;
}
.clearable-input > input {
  padding-right: 1.4em;
}
.clearable-input > [data-clear-input] {
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  right: 0;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 1.4em;
  padding: 0 0.2em;
  line-height: 1em;
  cursor: pointer;
}
.clearable-input > input::-ms-clear {
  display: none;
}

JavaScript

Array.prototype.forEach.call(document.querySelectorAll('.clearable-input>[data-clear-input]'), function(el) {
  el.addEventListener('click', function(e) {
    e.target.previousElementSibling.value = '';
  });
});