President Donald Trump said Thursday that China has been reaching out ‘a lot’ ever since he nearly tripled U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, and he suggested to reporters that the two nations could reach a deal in as soon as three to four weeks.
During a gaggle with reporters after signing executive orders related to deregulating the seafood industry, Trump was asked about his ongoing negotiations with Chinese officials and, in particular, whether he has yet spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the ongoing trade battle.
‘They have reached out a number of times,’ Trump said, referring to high-level Chinese officials. When asked how frequently they’ve been in touch since last week – after Trump tripled his Chinese tariff increase from 54% to 145% – the president responded, ‘A lot.’
His comments come amid media reports that Trump has indicated he is unwilling to reach out to China first amid the ongoing trade war. According to sources close to Trump, U.S. officials have been urging the Chinese to initiate a call between Xi and Trump, but so far they have not.
When asked if he had spoken to Xi yet, Trump would not confirm one way or the other.
‘I’ve never said whether or not [it’s] happened, but I have a very good relationship with President Xi, and I think it’s going to continue. They have reached out a number of times,’ Trump told reporters.
The press then quickly pounced on Trump’s response, requesting the president to clarify if he was referring to Xi or other Chinese officials when he said, ‘They have reached out a number of times.’
‘I view it very similar,’ Trump responded. ‘It would be top levels of China, and if you knew [Xi], you would know that if they reached out, he knew exactly – he knew everything about it. He runs it very tight, very strong, very smart. And, yeah, we’re talking to China.’
The president said that while some have urged him to fast-track his negotiations, he believes there is ‘plenty’ of time left to make a deal with China and expects it will eventually come to fruition.
‘I would think over the next three or four weeks, I think maybe the whole thing could be concluded,’ Trump told reporters Thursday.
The president added that if a deal cannot be reached, things will ‘be fine.’
‘At a certain point, if we don’t make a deal, we’ll just set a limit. We’ll set a tariff. We’ll set some parameters, and we’ll say, ‘Come in and shop,” Trump said. ‘They always have a right not to do it, so they can say, ‘Well, we don’t want it, so we’re not going to shop there, we’re not going to shop in the store of America.’ We have something that nobody else has, and that’s the American consumer.’