Image: South China Morning Post
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington and Beijing were talking and expressed confidence that a deal on tariffs would be reached soon but declined to say if he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping, as a brewing trade war threatens to roil the global economy.
“We are confident that we will work out something with China,” he said during a late afternoon executive order signing in the Oval Office.
“Top officials” in Beijing had reached out to Washington “a number of times” Trump claimed, adding that the two sides have had very good trade talks but that more remained, though he offered no evidence of any progress.
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Asked about timing on any agreement, Trump said, “I would think over the next three to four weeks”.
“We have a big beautiful store and everybody wants a piece of that store.”
Trump declined to say whether he would raise further the current tariffs he has imposed on Chinese imports of up to 145 per cent.
“I may not want to go higher, or I may not want to even go up to that level. I may want to go to less, because, you know, you want people to buy.”
However, just hours after Trump voiced hesitation about further raising China tariffs, the US Trade Representative’s Office rolled out a two-phase plan that could further escalate tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Beginning in six months, ships that are either Chinese-owned or built in the country will be required to pay fees when docking at US ports, with charges increasing over time based on vessel size and cargo.
A second phase, set to take effect in three years, will gradually limit the amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that foreign vessels can transport, with increasingly strict rules phased in over 22 years to encourage the use of US-built LNG carriers.
The announcement follows a year-long investigation into whether China’s shipbuilding sector poses a threat to US national security.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order giving the USTR authority to collect millions in docking fees and tariffs on China-related cargo equipment, including cranes, an effort to challenge China’s maritime logistics dominance.
Trump has justified his disorganised tariff roll-out, reversals, doubling down and occasional contradictory explanations – along with the shock in global markets it has engendered – as necessary to revitalise US manufacturing, although companies say it is difficult to plan amid the uncertainty and tumult.
Turning to the social media app TikTok, owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, Trump similarly expressed confidence that the sale he seeks would be forthcoming.
“We have a deal for TikTok but it is subject to China so we will delay it until this thing gets worked out,” he said.
He added that the deal would not take more than “five minutes” to finalise when a discussion took place.
Trump touted anew his “very good relationship” with Xi but suggested that trade terms would be established, even without China’s agreement.
“We’re going to have a deal with China,” he said. “And if we don’t, we’re going to have a deal anyway, because we will set a certain target, and that’s going to be it.”
Trump’s comments came a few hours after a senior Chinese diplomat called on Washington to drop the 145 per cent tariffs and to stop blaming Beijing for the US fentanyl opioid crisis.
In a news briefing, Ma Xiaoxiao, the Chinese deputy consul general in New York, said that Beijing was willing to resume dialogue, provided the two sides “treat each other as equals”. He did not mentioning any senior Chinese officials already in discussions with Washington.
Ma declined to say how far Beijing was willing to go to defend its corner, including whether it might sell down its reserve of roughly US$800 billion in US Treasury debt; block exports of rare earth minerals essential for many tech products; or play hardball with any sale of TikTok.
“We all know this is a critical time,” he said, without mentioning the US president by name.
“China will fight to the end, not only for itself but for the world order and the justice of the international community,” Ma said.
In a presentation heavy on statistics and light on new arguments, Ma said that China would not be bullied, its sovereignty had to be safeguarded and that it sought “win-win” US-China solutions.
Thursday’s outreach by the consulate came as relations between the world’s two largest economies hit new lows amid historic distrust over trade, security, diplomacy and economic policy.
Trump’s aggressive policies in the three months since he returned to the White House have included tamped-up rhetoric, mercurial decision-making, draconian tariffs against long-standing US allies and threats to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal potentially by force.
Trump’s behaviour has allowed China to position itself as a responsible global player defending world order and fighting protectionism, despite international concerns that Beijing’s state-led economy and non-market barriers would lead China to swamp global markets with goods to prop up its domestic economy.
Ma said it was time to “break away from the old way” and urged the US to avoid “setting up imaginary enemies”.
“If the US wants to talk, the door on China’s side remains open,” he said. But “we will not bend our legitimate rights and interests to accommodate the unreasonable demands of other countries”.
Ma claimed widespread support within the international community, UN and World Trade Organization for China’s fight against Trump’s tariff policies.
But Ma’s points were unlikely to sway the “America first” Trump administration, which has expressed outright hostility toward allies and multilateral institutions.
This week, Xi embarked on a Southeast Asia charm offensive to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, part of a region that has been wary of Beijing’s muscular South China Sea policy and disregard for competing territorial claims.
In an article in Nhan Dan, the official newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party, Xi called for greater collaboration among developing countries to promote “an equal and orderly multipolar world”.
The European Union and China are also planning a summit in Beijing in July despite deep-seated tension over EU charges that China is exporting its industrial overcapacity to bolster its swooning economy. Beijing hosted EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic last month.
And Japan and South Korea have agreed to work with China to advance trade and investment as even these historically adversarial states reconsider the geopolitical chessboard.
Trump’s erratic approach contrasts sharply with the more methodical efforts of his predecessor Joe Biden, providing China an opening to promote its soft power.
On Tuesday in his first major statement since leaving the presidency, Biden said that in “fewer than 100 days, this new administration has ... done so much damage and so much destruction”.
“It’s kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon.”
More from South China Morning Post:
- Trump inserts himself into US-Japan tariff talks, hails ‘big progress’
- US and Ukraine will sign critical minerals deal next week: Donald Trump
- Faced with Donald Trump’s hostility, is the European Union pivoting towards China?
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