Trump threatens to raise tariffs if Xi doesn’t show up for G-20
WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump said yesterday additional tariffs on Chinese goods were ready to kick in after the G-20 summit if no trade deal is reached with China and criticised Federal Reserve policies as "destructive" for the US.
In an interview with CNBC, Mr Trump said disputes over Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies could be addressed as part of any US trade deal with China. He also said that if Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the G-20 meeting, tariffs would go into effect.
Mr Trump has said he is getting ready to meet Mr Xi at the Osaka summit at the end of June, but China has not confirmed it.
He also said: "If we don't make a deal, you'll see a tariff increase."
China's Foreign Ministry said yesterday that China is open for more trade talks with Washington but has nothing to announce about a possible meeting.
Speaking in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang would not confirm a meeting. But he said China has noticed the US side has said many times it hopes to arrange a Xi-Trump meeting then.
'DOOR IS OPEN'
On the trade dispute and talks about it, China's position is very clear, he added.
"China does not want to fight a trade war, but is not afraid of one. If the US side is willing to have equal consultations then our door is open.
"If the US side insists on escalating the trade friction, we will firmly respond and fight to the end."
In the CNBC interview, Mr Trump criticised China for devaluing its currency to create an unfair advantage in trade that he said was exacerbated by policies of the US Federal Reserve.
"They devalue their currency - they have for years.
"It's put them at a tremendous competitive advantage and we don't have that advantage because we have a Fed that doesn't lower interest rates," he said, adding "our Fed is very, very destructive to us". - REUTERS
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