US-China trade war: Trump praises Xi, as Beijing calls for 'calm' resolution
President Trump on Monday praised Chinese President Xi Jinping and said trade talks will restart after a report indicated that China was willing to return to the negotiating table.
“Great respect for the fact that President Xi & his Representatives want ‘calm resolution,’” Trump tweeted. “So impressed that they are willing to come out & state the facts so accurately. This is why he is a great leader & representing a great country. Talks are continuing!”
China’s Vice Premier Liu He, Xi’s top economic adviser who is leading the nation’s trade delegation, said Monday that rising tensions in the trade war are not beneficial to China.
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“We are willing to resolve the issue through consultations and cooperation in a calm attitude and resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war,” Liu said at a tech conference in southwest China, according to Reuters.
“We believe that the escalation of the trade war is not beneficial for China, the United States, nor to the interests of the people of the world,” he added.
During a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G-7 summit in France on Monday, Trump said the U.S. is at a much better position at the current time to make a deal with China.
The comments from Liu and Trump come after tensions in the trade dispute rose last week, as both countries announced retaliatory tariffs on each other’s exports. China placed tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods on Friday, and in response, Trump announced that the tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of goods from China – set to go into effect on Sept. 1 at a 10 percent rate – would now be taxed at 15 percent. He also noted that the levies on $250 billion of Chinese goods – currently at a 25 percent rate – will increase to 30 percent beginning Oct. 1.