President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) warned China to act immediately and strike a trade deal with the United States in order to avoid a ‘far worse’ negotiation after 2020.
“I think that China felt they were being beaten so badly in the recent negotiation that they may as well wait around for the next election, 2020, to see if they could get lucky & have a Democrat win – in which case they would continue to rip-off the USA for $500 Billion a year,” Trump tweeted.
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“The only problem is that they know I am going to win (best economy & employment numbers in U.S. history, & much more), and the deal will become far worse for them if it has to be negotiated in my second term. Would be wise for them to act now, but love collecting BIG TARIFFS!” he added.
In an apparent bid to coerce China into making concessions following the latest round of high-level trade talks in Washington that ended without a deal, Trump has been urging China to come on board with his terms now, unless it wants to deal with a much tougher post-2020 Trump, Russia Today reported.
The US escalated its trade war with China on Friday by levying a fresh 15 per cent hike of tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods in the middle of last-ditch talks to rescue a trade deal. A rise in tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports, valued at approximately USD 300 billion is further under process.
In addition, the President issued orders for the tariff increase, saying China “broke the deal” by retreating from earlier commitments made during months of negotiations.Meanwhile, Beijing said it still remains “cautiously optimistic” about the future of trade negotiations with the US.
Speaking after the two-day talks in Washington, the head of the Chinese delegation, Vice Premier Liu He, said that despite “minor twists and turns” he does not see the negotiations as having been “derailed”.