AFP |
President Donald Trump warned Monday he will slap huge new tariffs on China if his counterpart Xi Jinping doesn’t show up for a planned face-to-face meeting later this month and insisted the Chinese economy will never overtake the United States.
Trump delivered his hardline message ahead of the G20 summit on June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan, which could mark a turning point in the trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies.
Asked if a failure by Xi to come to the summit would lead to tariffs kicking in on a further $300 billion in Chinese imports, Trump told CNBC television: “Yes it would.”
Trump has already imposed 25 percent duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports. China has responded with punitive tariffs on $60 billion in US goods.
Trump said the meeting was “scheduled” and that he expects Xi to attend. “I would be surprised if he didn’t go,” Trump said. “I think he’s going, I haven’t heard that he’s not.”
Beijing Silent on Trump-Xi Talks
However, as US-Chinese tensions mount, a spokesman for Xi’s government said last month that he had “no information at present” on Trump-Xi talks. Trump has been trying to strongarm China into fundamental change on trade policies that the president argues have for decades put the United States at an unfair disadvantage.
The two sides seemed to be close to striking a bargain until talks stalled last month. Washington says that Beijing walked away at the last minute, while the Chinese side has signaled it is prepared for a long fight against unreasonable demands.
Read more: Trump unleashes trade war with tariffs on China
Trump has already imposed 25 percent duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports. China has responded with punitive tariffs on $60 billion in US goods. Last month he threatened to slap tariffs on a further $300 billion of goods virtually everything American companies import from China if no breakthrough is achieved.
The US Trade Representative office has launched the process to impose the huge new duties, with a hearing scheduled for June 17 but Trump has said he has yet to decide whether he will ultimately impose the levies.
Trump’s Game of Tariffs
Trump has made tariffs a pillar of his foreign policy, arguing that US economic power puts him in a win-win situation when he threatens rivals like China and even close allies, such as Canada, the European Union and Mexico.
The United States says that China cheats in bilateral trade by forcing US importers to give up intellectual property, subsidizing its own companies, and running a huge trade surplus with Washington.
Trump’s tariff rattling has spooked global markets and also run into pushback from many in Congress.
Trump told CNBC that by ratcheting up tariffs, he can ultimately force manufacturers to leave China. “Those companies are going to move into other locations and there won’t be a tariff,” he said.
In a game of tit-for-tat, Trump added, China will lose simply because they have far fewer US imports they can target. “We have the big, big advantage,” he said.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2019
“China’s going to make a deal because they’re going to have to make a deal.”
Trump’s tariff rattling has spooked global markets and also run into pushback from many in Congress.
But in his lengthy CNBC interview, Trump said he is doing what previous presidents avoided because they “either didn’t understand it or they were bored by it or they weren’t smart enough.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2019
His overall aim, the Republican said, is to ensure that China never overtakes the United States as the world’s top economy.
Read more: Investors eager for a Trump-Xi meeting & end to trade war
Eunice Yoon, CNBC’s Beijing Bureau Chief, shared an excerpt of Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang’s statements. Yoon observed that it appears that Beijing is “assessing risk of having Xi meet Trump (possible public humiliation) and risk not to (possible blame internationally for failed talks)”.
#China refrains from confirming @stevenmnuchin1 talk that Presidents @realDonaldTrump and Xi will meet at the #G20. Suggests Beijing is assessing risk of having Xi meet Trump (possible public humiliation) and risk not to (possible blame internationally for failed talks) pic.twitter.com/KUPZAIJH2h
— Eunice Yoon (@onlyyoontv) June 10, 2019
Olga Lautman, investigative journalist and Trump regime researcher, observed that while US President Trump is instigating trade wars with China, Russian President Putin is winning over Beijing with trade arrangements.
Lautman tweeted, “While Trump is causing trade wars with China Putin says that Russia will supply soy beans and poultry meat to China. Russia winning again. What guarantee is Trump giving Americans that China will resume trade w US companies after the trade war ends?”
While Trump is causing trade wars with China Putin says that Russia will supply soy beans and poultry meat to China. Russia winning again.
What guarantee is Trump giving Americans that China will resume trade w US companies after the trade war ends? https://t.co/NR6GPiioSI— Olga Lautman 🇺🇦 (@OlgaNYC1211) June 4, 2019
AFP with additional input by GVS news desk.