Trump Says US Is ‘Where We Want To Be’ On China Trade Talks

Trump

US President Donald Trump said the US is “right where we want to be with China” as both sides remained locked in a bruising trade battle.

The US more than doubled tariffs on $200bn (£153.7bn) of Chinese goods on Friday, in a sharp escalation of their trade war.

Earlier, Mr Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said “both sides will suffer” from the trade dispute.

But Mr Trump later downplayed the impact of the tariff hike on the US.

“We are right where we want to be with China. Remember, they broke the deal with us & tried to renegotiate,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

Economists have said a 25% tariff will be much harder for businesses to absorb than 10%, which means they are more likely to pass on some of the cost to consumers.

“Both sides will suffer on this.”

Mr Kudlow also said there was a “strong possibility” that Mr Trump would meet with China’s President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan in late June.

Chinese retaliation

China said on Friday it “deeply regrets” the US decision to hike tariffs and that it will have to retaliate with the “necessary countermeasures.”

In the past, the Chinese have introduced retaliatory tariffs almost immediately after US tariffs have gone into force.

The US argues that China’s trade surplus with the US is the result of unfair practices, including state support for domestic companies. It also accuses China of stealing intellectual property from US firms.

The latest tariff increase marks a sharp escalation of the US-China trade war which has already been weighing on the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the escalation of US-China trade tension was one factor to have contributed to a “significantly weakened global expansion” late last year as it cut its 2019 global growth forecast.