China issues scathing response to Trump after he claimed their president called him to discuss tariffs
Donald Trump may have been overplaying his success with China negotiations as the nation responds to ongoing trade tensions.
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, he has made it clear he will be doing things differently, and 'Liberation Day' (April 2) was certainly a clear indication of this.
On this day, he announced his huge economic plan and the many new tariffs he would introduce or increase for countries worldwide.
China was one of the nation's most impacted and has retaliated in kind. Twenty-five per cent tariffs had already been applied on goods from China, leading to the government hiking tariffs by 34 per cent (to a combined total of 54 per cent) on Trump's 'Liberation Day'.
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China weren’t fans of this move and immediately filed measures against the US, which included 15 percent tariffs on US farm products, ten percent on crude oil and agricultural machinery, and 34 percent on all US goods.
This eventually resulted in Trump raising the tariff on China to 145 percent, and then to 245 percent, while pausing the tariff plans for all other countries for 90 days, as China raised tariffs on all US goods to 125 percent, while also reducing exports of rare earth minerals.
Both Trump and China's president, Xi Jinping, have made it clear that neither of them are going to go down without a fight, with China saying it is 'ready to fight till the end', while Trump has previously claimed that the country has 'played it wrong'.
When quizzed on this by reporters about the ongoing feud, Trump said he would not play hardball with the nation and that both would find a way to work together.
Speaking on Tuesday (April 22), he said: “No, no, we’re going to be very nice. They’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens. But ultimately, they have to make a deal, because otherwise they’re not going to be able to deal in the United States, and we want them involved.
A few days later, he insisted that he had spoken to Xi recently, though he did not specify what the two discussed.
In an interview with Time published last week Friday (25 April) he insisted that Xi had attempted to call, saying: “He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”
However, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun denied Trump's claims, saying in a statement (via Reuters): “As far as I know, the two heads of state have not called each other recently.
“I want to reiterate that China and the United States are not engaged in consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue.”
CNN reports that according to publicly available records, the last time the two leaders spoke by phone was on January 17 before his inaugration.
UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.
Topics: China, News, US News, Donald Trump
Gerrard Kaonga