Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods just the ‘art of the deal’, analysts say

US president’s tough talk intended to ramp up the pressure on Beijing, observers say

But his comments that the two sides are close to a deal should be seen as a positive, former acting deputy US trade representative says

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China and the US are still working on the details of an interim trade deal to end their trade war. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00pm, 13 Nov 2019Updated: 1:05am, 14 Nov 2019

US President Donald Trump’s threat on Tuesday to raise tariffs on Chinese goods was little more than posturing, analysts said, as the two countries continue to work towards an interim trade war deal.

Speaking at an event in New York, Trump said: “If we don’t make a deal, we will substantially raise those tariffs.” But he added that “a significant ‘phase one’ trade deal could happen soon” and that Beijing was “dying to make a deal”.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that the two countries had agreed to the phased removal of tariffs on each other’s goods, but the next day Trump denied committing to such an arrangement.

Lu Xiang, a specialist on US affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it was unlikely that Trump had made his final decision on the deal and that he was just trying to ramp up the pressure on China.

“I still think a deal could be concluded by the end of the year,” he said, adding that he could not rule out the possibility of an about-turn on what had already been agreed.

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