Donald Trump stated this Wednesday that it is “extremely difficult” to reach agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the eve of a new phone call between the two leaders that will once again be marked by the tariff dispute between the two powers.
Since taking office on January 20, Trump initiated a trade war with the world’s major economies, but his main tariff increases were focused on China.
On May 12th, the United States and China reached a preliminary agreement by announcing the suspension for an initial period of 90 days of a substantial portion of the tariffs applied to each other, following talks between the two superpowers in Switzerland.
What did Trump say about the negotiations with China?
“I like President Xi, I have always liked him and I always will, but he is very tough and it is extremely difficult to reach agreements with him,” Trump said in a message posted on his Truth Social network in the early hours of the morning, just a few hours after the White House confirmed that both leaders would speak again this week.
Last week, Trump accused the Asian giant of violating the commitments made in the first half of May and, for the time being.
China will, however, be one of the major affected parties by the new 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum announced on Tuesday by the Republican president.
In the past few days, both governments have also exchanged reproaches regarding other political decisions, including the announcement by the Trump Administration to begin revoking visas for Chinese students.
In addition to that, in the dispute of the Trump administration for trying to subject Harvard University to its political agenda and remove the millions of federal funds it receives, the prestigious Ivy League academic institution was accused of being “coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party.”