Trump has no plans to meet Xi Jinping before March
March 1 is the deadline for the US and China to resolve the trade war, but the two sides will not meet before that date.
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Trump in Pennsylvania in October 2018. Photo:Reuters. |
"Not yet," Trump said on February 7 when asked by reporters at the White House whether he and Xi Jinping planned to meet within a month, according toAFP.
Asked whether a meeting could take place before March 1, he said: "No."
Trump has said that a final resolution to the trade war will depend on a meeting between him and Xi “in the near future.” International media have speculated that Trump could meet the Chinese president after he flies to Vietnam in late February for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The US and China entered a trade war last year when Washington imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate with tariffs on $110 billion worth of US goods. After Trump and Xi met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina on December 1, 2018, a "ceasefire" was announced. Both sides agreed not to impose further tariffs on each other until March 1.
Washington has threatened to double tariffs on Chinese goods in early March if no deal is reached on reforms to China’s trade practices, accusing China of unfair practices such as forcing American companies to transfer technology and subsidizing domestic businesses.
White House chief economist Larry Kudlow said this week that while Trump was optimistic about the prospects for a deal, there was still a “big gap” separating the two sides.
The US and China have held two rounds of trade talks. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to travel to China next week for a third round.
