US President Donald Trump said yesterday he is in no hurry to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to defuse a new trade war between the world’s two largest economies sparked by his sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports.
China imposed targeted tariffs on US imports yesterday and put several companies, including Google, on notice for possible sanctions, in a measured response to Trump’s tariffs.
“That’s fine,” Trump said at the White House when asked about China’s retaliatory duties.
A conversation between Xi and Trump is seen as key to a potential easing or delay of tariffs, as conversations with Mexican and Canadian leaders did on Monday.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters that a Trump-Xi call still needed to be scheduled.
“President Xi did reach out to President Trump to speak about this, maybe to begin a negotiation. So we’ll see how that call goes,” Leavitt told Fox Business Network earlier yesterday. Beijing’s limited reply to Trump’s imposition of a 10pc tariff on all Chinese imports underscored the attempt by Chinese policymakers to engage Trump in talks to avert an outright trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Capital Economics, a UK-based research firm, estimated that China’s additional tariffs would apply to about $20 billion of annual imports, compared with the $450bn worth of Chinese goods subject to the Trump tariff that took effect at 12.01am ET yesterday (0501 GMT).
“The measures are fairly modest, at least relative to US moves, and have been calibrated to send a message to the US,” Julian Evans-Pritchard, the firm’s head of China Economics, said in a note.
Trump on Monday suspended his threat of 25pc tariffs on Mexico and Canada, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement.
Earlier, Trump suggested that the European Union would be his next target for tariffs, but did not say when.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive European Commission, said Brussels would be ready for tough negotiations but underlined the need to lay foundations for a stronger partnership with the EU’s largest trade and investment partner.
“We will be open and pragmatic in how to achieve that. But we will make it equally clear that we will always protect our own interests – however and whenever that is needed,” she said in a speech.
The European Commission and the new US administration have been in contact at a technical level but von der Leyen and Trump have not spoken directly yet, a Commission spokesperson said.
China’s new measures, announced as the Trump tariffs took effect, include a 15pc levy on US coal and LNG and 10pc for crude oil, farm equipment and a small number of trucks as well as big-engine sedans shipped to China from the United States.
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