President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he is in “no rush” to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping despite expectations they would meet the same day, as trade tensions increase after both countries imposed tariffs early in the morning.
“We’ll speak to him at the appropriate time. I’m in no rush,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office less than a day after both countries exchanged new trade curbs. The leaders of the world’s largest economies were unable to reach an agreement to stave off Trump’s threat to impose 10 percent duties on Chinese imports before midnight Monday, even after Trump opted to delay 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
Minutes after Trump imposed the tariffs, Beijing struck back with a series of retaliatory penalties. Those include a 15 percent tariff on imports of U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas as well as 10 percent tariffs on crude oil, agricultural machinery and certain vehicles. China’s tariffs will not come into force until Feb. 10, giving the countries time to make a deal.
The president downplayed China’s retaliation in remarks to reporters Tuesday: “It’s fine, it’s fine. We’re going to do very well against China and against everybody else,” Trump said.
The delay is a signal that both countries might not reach an agreement in the near future. It also conflicts with a quicker timeline suggested by Trump’s White House adviser Peter Navarro, who said at a POLITICO event earlier Tuesday that the two would speak over the phone: “Let’s see what happens with the call today,” Navarro said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said she had no updates on the timing of the call.
Trump had also told reporters Monday that he expected a call with the Chinese leader “probably over the next 24 hours.” He called that 10 percent figure an “opening salvo” and said: “If we can’t make a deal with China, then the tariffs will be very, very substantial.”
Trump has repeatedly said that tariffs on Chinese imports are necessary to pressure China to crack down on fentanyl smuggling into the United States. The country is thought to be a key source of precursor chemicals used to make the addictive opioid.
China has said it has made efforts to restrict the flow of fentanyl abroad and to squash its domestic industry.
As part of its retaliation, China on Tuesday also expanded its export restrictions on critical metals, expanded its list of restricted entities and launched an antitrust investigation into Google over supposed violations of China’s anti-monopoly law.