The erratic movements shown by President Trump in the “Economic War” with China, ” have been accentuated with two dangerous variants: There is a possibility of recession and the proximity of the presidential elections.
Under these two conditions, the White House leader has played to move downwind in his attempts to subdue the Chinese economy.
However, the lifesavers that the President has grasped by his mistakes have been provided on all occasions by the commercial negotiators of the Asian Giant, who have overcome in pragmatism the American culture and recently have emphasized that they prefer “calm resolutions” to an “escalation of the trade war”.
With that life jacket on, President Trump said China wants to “get back to the table” and called its president a “great leader” when the Group of Seven (G-7) meeting is coming to a close.
The trade war with China has contributed to a disturbing economic situation that has caused worries about a recession next year along with questions about how that might affect the 2020 presidential race.
It is also the latest in a series of contradictory signals from Trump, who on Sunday suggested that he regretted imposing higher tariffs on China, only for the White House to insist that those comments had been misinterpreted by the media and that his only regret was not imposing higher tariffs.
Trump also suggested Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping was an “enemy” of the United States after Beijing announced a new round of reciprocal tariffs on U.S. products. On Monday he described him as a “great leader”.
This tone shift happened as he spoke to journalists during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi before the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France.
Trump said China wants to “make a deal,” referring to media reports citing a senior Chinese official who says Beijing is willing to resolve the ongoing trade war through “calm” negotiations with the United States.
“China called last night our top trade people and said, ‘Let’s get back to the table,'” Trump told reporters.
“So, we’ll be getting back to the table. And I think they want to do something. They’ve been hurt very badly, but they understand this is the right thing to do. And I have great respect for it. I have great respect for it. This is a very positive development for the world,” continued Trump.
Trump said his administration received two calls from Chinese officials, but refused to say if he is talking to Xi directly.
“We are going to start talking very seriously. They want to be able to make a deal. It’s very important that… yes, I think it’s very important for them,” Trump said.
Trump said negotiations would begin “very soon” and predicted that both sides would “make a deal.”
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had not heard of any phone calls between the two countries, Reuters reported.
When pressed on later, U.S.Treasury Secretary and Trump Steven Mnuchin refused to give details about the calls.
The Trump administration first applied tariffs on Chinese products more than a year ago, and although both sides seemed on the verge of reaching an agreement earlier this year, the talks were finally interrupted.
Trump has in recent weeks endured increased scrutiny for his ongoing trade war with China, which has been blamed in part for the weakening of the global economy. Trump’s announcement that he would respond to China’s reciprocal tariffs sent stocks t falling on Friday.
During a subsequent meeting on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Biarritz, Trump said he was willing to delay the tariffs planned for China while talks are going on.
“Anything is possible. We are having very meaningful talks. Much more meaningful than at any time, I think. China is a great country, I consider President Xi a great leader,” Trump said.
The U.S. will impose tariffs of $500 billion of Chinese goods on September 1.
Translated by: José Espinoza
Noticias Newswire
