WASHINGTON ( WNAM MONITORING ): US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would “love” to strike a deal with China as the world’s top two economies engage in an intensifying trade war that has global markets on edge.
“We’ll see what happens with China. We would love to be able to work a deal,” Trump told reporters after meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. “They’ve really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time. They’ve ripped us off beyond anybody.”
The president increased his “reciprocal tariffs” on China from 84% to 125% on Wednesday, as Washington and Beijing continued to escalate a tit-for-tat trade war. His “reciprocal” rate comes on top of a 20% tariff he imposed earlier this year — related to the trafficking of illicit fentanyl, meaning the true tariff rate on China has now hit 145%.
Trump downplayed China’s decision to respond to his announcement by further limiting the number of American movies that are allowed to play in the East Asian nation, saying, “I think I’ve heard of worse things.”
Markets soared Wednesday as Trump granted dozens of nations a 90-day reprieve from tariffs above his 10% baseline that were supposed to go into effect that day. But fears that the US and China are slipping into an intensifying trade war brought markets sharply lower Thursday.
