BEIJING: Trump has repeatedly said he is getting ready to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Osaka summit at the end of June. China is silent on this and has not confirmed it yet. Trump said last week he would decide whether or not to carry out a threat to impose tariffs on at least $300 billion in Chinese goods after meeting other world leaders.
On Monday, Trump threatened to impose another round of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if Osaka talks with Xi fails to yield any result in US favor. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang released the statement, “China does not want to fight a trade war, but we are not afraid of fighting a trade war.” He further added, ‘China’s door is open to talks based on equality. If the United States only wants to escalate trade frictions, we will firmly respond and fight till the end.’
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Tuesday downplayed this month’s summit in Japan, ‘At the G20, at most it will be … some sort of agreement on a path forward, but certainly it’s not going to be a definite agreement.’ Tensions between Washington and Beijing rose sharply in May after the Trump administration accused China of going back on promises to make structural economic changes.
The United States is seeking sweeping changes, including an end to forced technology transfers and theft of U.S. trade secrets. It also wants reduction on subsidies for Chinese state-owned enterprises and much better access for U.S. firms in Chinese markets. (Agencies)
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