Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet at G-20 summit, president says
President Trump said Tuesday he will be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit next week amid the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.
“Had a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China. We will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan. Our respective teams will begin talks prior to our meeting,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
While the U.S. has previously said the two leaders will meet at the summit in Osaka, Japan, starting next Friday, China has remained mum about the impending meeting. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in the Chinese capital of Beijing last Tuesday that the Chinese government will release more information when it's available.
"We note that for some time, the U.S. has made multiple public statements that it looks forward to a meeting between the two heads of state during the G-20 Osaka Summit," Geng said. "We will release information on this when we have it."
The U.S. and China have been stuck in a trade standoff that escalated last month when Trump increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent. China retaliated by increasing tariffs on $60 billion worth of American products that went into effect earlier this month.
Both sides have since shown no signs of backing down, with Trump threatening China with possible tariffs on “at least” another $300 billion worth of goods.
“Our talks with China, a lot of interesting things are happening. We’ll see what happens... I could go up another at least $300 billion and I’ll do that at the right time,” Trump told reporters before heading to France for D-Day commemorations on June 6.
Days later, Geng told reporters that China was willing to negotiate with the U.S. if both sides were willing to come to a fair agreement — but reiterated that Beijing was "not afraid of fighting a trade war." China also released a policy paper that blamed the U.S. for the trade war and accused Washington of being an untrustworthy negotiator.
“China does not want to fight a trade war, but we are not afraid of fighting a trade war,” Geng said. “If the U.S. is ready to have equal consultations, our door is wide open. If the United States only wants to escalate trade frictions, we will resolutely respond and fight to the end.”
Trump hasn't said when his proposed tariffs would go into effect, but he said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" last Monday that he will impose them if Xi doesn't meet with him at the Osaka summit.
Washington also placed Chinese telecom giant Huawei on a blacklist that effectively bars U.S. companies from supplying it with computer chips, software and other components without government approval. The Chinese tech company's CEO Ren Zhengfei said Monday he estimates revenue will be $30 billion less than forecast over the next two years due to the U.S. government’s ban.
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Ren, while comparing Huawei's current state to a "badly damaged plane," said the company's current situation "is not caused by American businesses, but rather by certain politicians' different perspectives."
"I think both sides will suffer. No one will win," he added.
Chinese state media has also warned that Beijing could cut the U.S. off from rare earth minerals that are widely used in electric cars and mobile phones.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.