President Trump said that concessions could be on the table to alleviate the trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
Mr. Trump, while on the long flight to Malaysia for a week of meetings in Asia, told reporters aboard Air Force One that both superpowers will have to deal.
“Sure, they’ll have to make concessions,” he said. “I guess we will too.
“We’re at 157% tariff for them. I don’t think that’s sustainable for them. They want to get that down, and we want certain things from them.”
The president is set to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea next week.
Mr. Trump has threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods if China doesn’t give up its tightened restrictions on rare earth exports.
When asked what the odds are of that levy, Mr. Trump said, “I have no odds. I don’t think they would want that. It would not be good for them.”
As for the Russia-Ukraine war, the president wants China to quit buying Russian oil to help end the killing.
“I’d love China to help us out with Russia,” he said. “We put very big sanctions on Russia. I think those sanctions are going to be very biting, very strong; but I’d like to see China help us out.”
