Trump warns China he could ‘substantially’ increase tariffs
US President Donald Trump says the United States is not ready to make a trade deal with China and warned he could “substantially” increase tariffs on Chinese goods amid a bitter trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Trump made the comments at a joint press conference in Tokyo on Monday alongside Japanese leader Shinzo Abe.
“I think they probably wish they made the deal that they had on the table before they tried to renegotiate it,” Trump said. “They would like to make a deal. We’re not ready to make a deal.”
Trump said American tariffs on Chinese goods “could go up very, very substantially, very easily".
His comments came after trade negotiations between the two countries were halted earlier this month. The world’s tow biggest economies have blamed the other for the failed talks.
Trump increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent after the trade talks were halted.
He had already imposed 25 percent tariffs on a separate category of Chinese machinery and technology goods worth $50 billion.
Trump has previously threatened that if a trade deal is not reached, he would impose punitive tariffs on all imports from China, which was worth $540 billion in 2018.
However, Trump expressed optimism in Tokyo that the two nations would eventually reach an agreement.
“I think sometime in the future China, and the United States will absolutely have a great trade deal, and we look forward to that,” Mr Trump said.
“Because I don’t believe that China can continue to pay these, really, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. I don’t believe they can do that.”
Washington is pressing Beijing to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries and implement structural changes in its practices concerning intellectual property and the transfer of US technology to Chinese firms.
China, however, says such reforms could only favor the US and lead to more protectionism in global trade.
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