‘If we meet, we meet?’: Donald Trump casts doubt on possible breakthrough in trade talks with China, says ‘we are under no pressure to make a deal’
Trump’s Twitter post came after White House officials confirmed that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had offered a formal invitation to Chinese leaders to restart trade talks
Hopes that the United States and China could soon break their trade impasse took a fresh hit on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said his administration was under no pressure to make a deal.
Appearing to respond to a Wall Street Journal article from Wednesday that suggested newly proposed high-level talks were in part the result of rising pressure on him to bring about a resolution to the trade war, Trump tweeted that the newspaper “has it wrong.”
“We are under no pressure to make a deal with China, they are under pressure to make a deal with us,” he said. “Our markets are surging, theirs are collapsing. We will soon be taking in Billions in Tariffs & making products at home.”
He added: “If we meet, we meet?”
News of proposed high-level talks this month between US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, and confirmation from the Chinese government, came as a surprise after Trump’s comments at the end of August that it was “not the right time to talk” with China.