Washington (AFP) – Donald Trump believes it is up to China to come to the negotiating table on trade, the White House said Tuesday, after the US president accused Beijing of reneging on a major Boeing deal. “The ball is in China’s court. China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them,” said a statement from Trump read out by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger,” she told a briefing.
Leavitt’s comments came after Trump said that China had “reneged” on a major deal with US aviation giant Boeing. This followed a Bloomberg news report that Beijing ordered airlines not to take further deliveries of the company’s jets.
Trump has slapped new tariffs on friend and foe since returning to the presidency this year, but has reserved his heaviest blows for China — imposing additional 145 percent levies on many Chinese imports. China on Wednesday said its economy grew a forecast-beating 5.4 percent in the first quarter as exporters rushed to get goods out of factory gates ahead of the US levies. Senior official Sheng Laiyun from China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that the US tariffs “will put certain pressures on our country’s foreign trade and economy.” Hong Kong’s postal service said meanwhile it will stop shipping goods bound for the United States in response to Trump’s “bullying” tariffs.
Trump has scrapped the “de minimis” exemption allowed goods valued under $800 to enter without duties or certain taxes, a rule which helped the rapid growth of Chinese-founded online retailers Shein and Temu. Japan’s envoy for talks slated for later Wednesday in Washington, Ryosei Akazawa, said he was optimistic of a “win-win” outcome for both countries. He was due to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and said he would “protect our national interest.” South Korea, another major exporter in particular of semiconductors and cars, said that finance minister Choi Sang-mok would meet Bessent next week. “The current priority is to use negotiations…to delay the imposition of reciprocal tariffs as much as possible and to minimize uncertainty for Korean companies operating not only in the US but also in global markets,” Choi said Tuesday.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told German weekly Die Zeit that the European Union was “setting out our position clearly, and the Americans are doing the same.” Ottawa on Tuesday offered automakers tariff relief if they maintain production in Canada, fearing a flight of the key manufacturing sector to the United States.
Trump took aim at Beijing again on Tuesday, saying on Truth Social that China did not fulfill its commitments under an earlier trade deal. He appeared to be referencing a pact that marked a truce in both sides’ escalating tariff war during his first term. The US president said China bought only “a portion of what they agreed to buy,” charging that Beijing had “zero respect” for his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration.
Since the start of the year, Trump has imposed steep duties on imports from China, alongside a 10 percent “baseline” tariff on many US trading partners. His administration recently widened exemptions from these tariffs, excluding certain tech products like smartphones and laptops from the global 10 percent tariff and latest 125 percent levy on China. Trump also vowed to protect US farmers on Tuesday, noting on social media that they were often “put on the Front Line with our adversaries, such as China,” when there were trade tussles.
Many Chinese imports still face the total 145 percent additional tariff, or at least an earlier 20 percent levy that Trump rolled out over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain. In response, Beijing has introduced counter-tariffs targeting US agricultural goods, and it later retaliated with a sweeping 125 percent levy of its own on imported US products. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to AFP queries on the aircraft deliveries, and Boeing has declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.
Chip stocks across Asia slumped after Nvidia said it expects a $5.5-billion hit due to a new US licensing requirement on the primary chip it can legally sell in China. Trump also ordered a probe Tuesday that may result in tariffs on critical minerals, rare-earth metals and associated products such as smartphones. China dominates global supply chains for rare metals and has imposed export controls on several rare earth elements since the trade war with the United States erupted.
© 2024 AFP
