ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, May 4 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States is engaged in trade discussions with multiple countries, including China, with an emphasis on securing a fair trade agreement with Beijing.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he did not plan to speak directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. However, he noted that U.S. officials were in talks with their Chinese counterparts on various topics.
When asked whether any trade agreements might be announced in the coming days, Trump responded that it was possible but provided no further details.
Since April 2, the Trump administration has initiated a series of meetings with trading partners following the imposition of a 10% tariff on most countries. Additional tariff measures included 25% duties on automobiles, steel, and aluminum, along with specific tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China. Some of these tariffs were temporarily suspended for 90 days.
Trump indicated that agreements might not be reached with all countries currently in negotiations. In such cases, he said, the United States might implement new tariff measures in the next two to three weeks. It remains unclear whether he was referring to the reciprocal tariffs announced earlier, which are scheduled to take effect on July 8 after the suspension period.
During the press interaction, Trump repeated his criticisms of China’s past trade practices and commented on former President Richard Nixon’s decision to open diplomatic relations with China, calling it “the worst thing” Nixon had done.
In a separate interview with NBC News, recorded Friday and aired Sunday, Trump expressed cautious optimism about negotiations with China. He described previous U.S. actions as having significantly reduced trade between the two countries, but said China was now motivated to reach an agreement.
“We’ve gone cold turkey,” Trump said. “That means we’re not losing a trillion dollars … because we’re not doing business with them right now. And they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal very badly. We’ll see how that all turns out, but it’s got to be a fair deal.”
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