[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said high threatened tariffs with China were not viable as tensions between the world’s two largest economies intensify ahead of an expected face-to-face meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
“It’s not sustainable,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business, a clip from which aired on Friday (Oct 17), when asked whether the levies he has threatened to impose on China could remain in place without significantly affecting the economy.
“But that’s what the number is, it’s probably not, you know, it could stand, but they forced me to do that.”
The tariff clash between Washington and Beijing saw US import taxes on Chinese goods rise to as high as 145 per cent in a tit-for-tat exchange that raised fears of a global downturn and a cutoff in trade between the two economies. Those levies were paused however in a series of 90-day truces, the most recent of which is set to expire Nov 10, unless it is extended again.
The pause was intended to allow the US and China time to resolve broader disputes over trade, but those efforts suffered a setback as Washington expanded some restrictions on technology and proposed levies on Chinese ships entering US ports and Beijing responded with similar moves and outlined tighter export controls on rare earths.
Trump last week threatened an additional 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods by Nov 1 and floated the idea of cancelling the planned meeting with Xi, expected to be on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea later this month.
“I get along great with him,” Trump said of Xi in the interview.
“I think we’re going to be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It’s got to be fair,” he added.
Addressing the US-China tensions, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business on Friday that he had “high confidence” that Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “are going to be able to get together with the Chinese and get this back to a place that’s good for both countries” BLOOMBERG
