The president, Donald Trump, opened the door today to extend trade negotiations with China beyond the deadline of March 1, and said he still hopes to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, “at some point”, probably after from that date.
“If we reach a point where we are close to a real agreement and we can achieve it, I see that it is possible to let it pass (the deadline) a little longer, but in general I’m not inclined” to do so, Trump said. journalists during a meeting with his cabinet in the White House.
Both countries will hold a new round of negotiations this week in Beijing to try to contain the trade war they were involved in last year as a result of Trump’s protectionist agenda, which has harshly criticized the Asian giant’s trade policies.
After his December meeting with Xi in Buenos Aires, Trump said that, if he did not reach an agreement with China before March 1, he would raise from 25% to 25% the tariffs he now applies to Chinese imports worth 200 billion dollars. Dollars.
The negotiations were expected to close at a new meeting between Trump and Xi, but the president ruled out last week the possibility of meeting his Chinese counterpart before the deadline of March 1.
“At some point, I hope to meet with Xi, whom I respect a lot, and close the parts of the agreement that the others (negotiators) can not,” Trump confirmed today, but without setting a date for that possible meeting that, according to the press, wants celebrate at his private club in Mar-a-Lago (Florida).
“I will be happy anyway”, whether an agreement is reached or not, stressed the president.
Since December 1, Beijing has adopted goodwill measures such as lowering tariffs on vehicles imported from the country, the resumption of the purchase of soy from that country or the presentation of a bill to prohibit the forced transfer of technology. .
But, as a condition for not increasing its tariffs to China, which affect from textiles and food to fuel, Washington also wants Beijing to commit to structural changes in its economy to, among other things, protect the intellectual property of the companies of the country.(EFE.USA)
