The U.S. says it will refuse conditions on tariff use in trade talks with China
While the Trump Administration is preparing to restart trade talks with China, it emphasized yesterday that it will not accept conditions regarding the U.S.'s use of tariffs in the dispute, says Reuters.
President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping have arranged to meet in Japan on Saturday. At that time, they will discuss the nations' plans for moving forward.
According to the publication, Trump has said that if the meeting with Xi produces no progress in resolving the U.S.'s complaints on the way China does business, he will impose tariffs on another US$325 billion of Chinese goods.
If imposed, the expanded tariffs would cover nearly all the remaining Chinese imports into the U.S. - including consumer products such as cellphones, computers and clothing.
The two sides could agree not to impose new tariffs as a goodwill gesture to get negotiations going, a senior U.S. administration official commented, but he added it was unclear if that would happen.
The U.S. was not willing to come to the Xi meeting with concessions, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Washington wants Beijing to return to the table with the promises it withdrew before talks broke down, he said.
Meanwhile, China has shown no indication that it is willing to soften its position.
It reiterated on Monday that both sides should make compromises in the trade talks and that a trade deal has to be beneficial for both countries.
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