President Trump declares victory over China in trade war
President Donald Trump called the current trade war between the US and China a “petty squabble” and confidently asserted that Washington will win.
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| President Donald Trump. Photo: Getty |
“We’re having a little spat with China because we’ve been treated so unfairly for many, many decades. I think it’s going to work out, we’re in a strong position,” President Trump told reporters at the White House on May 14, referring to U.S. dissatisfaction with China’s intellectual property theft and subsidies.
President Trump also denied that negotiations with China had broken down after the US paused negotiations for two days last week, and imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US before Beijing responded in kind.
“We are still talking. The conversation will continue,” Mr. Trump said.
The US president insisted that his “great” relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping remains “very good.” Mr Trump said that Chinese officials “want to make a deal” with the US and that a deal between the two countries is “absolutely possible.” However, the White House boss also said that the US is happy to collect more money from imposing tariffs on Chinese goods.
“You know what: We always win,” President Trump asserted.
The Trump administration began imposing 25% tariffs on nearly $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on May 10. In response, Beijing announced tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. imports.
President Trump said he was “not surprised” that China increased tariffs on imports from the United States. The US leader said he was “carefully considering” plans to impose new tariffs on $325 billion in Chinese goods, which would be nearly all of China’s exports to the US.
In a Twitter comment yesterday, President Trump also sought to reassure American farmers who are concerned about the negative impact of the trade war with China.
“Our great Patriot Farmers will be among the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening. Hopefully China will respect us and continue to buy our great Agricultural Product, which is the best thing to do, but if not, your Country will make up the difference with the very large amounts of product that China has been buying,” President Trump wrote on Twitter.
President Trump said the US would sign a trade deal with China “at the right time” and that it would happen “much faster than we thought.” President Trump suggested that US consumers could buy imported products from other countries instead of China to avoid tariffs, and called on US companies to move production back home.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said yesterday that Beijing and Washington agreed to continue “pursuing relevant discussions.” Meanwhile, a US Treasury Department spokesman also confirmed that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will plan a trade meeting in China.