Trump on G-20: 'China wants to make a deal; if we can make a deal we will'
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PALM BEACH, FLORIDA (AFP) - United States President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday (Nov 22) he was "very prepared" for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Argentina, and suggested a deal could be reached to end the trade war.
The President will meet Mr Xi on the sidelines of the summit, which is taking place from Nov 30 to Dec 1 in Buenos Aires.
"I have been preparing for it all my life," Mr Trump told journalists at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he gave a lengthy press conference after a Thanksgiving Day telephone address to US troops deployed overseas.
"I know every ingredient, every stat. I know it better than everybody knows it. My gut is always right," he said of his preparations.
Beijing and Washington have been locked in a trade war since this summer, with the US imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese goods worth US$250 billion (S$343 billion) a year. In retaliation, China imposed tariffs on US$110 billion of US goods.
Washington has threatened to toughen measures even further if the issue is not resolved before January.
"China wants to make a deal. If we can make a deal, we will," Mr Trump said.
He also hailed his "great relationship" with Mr Xi.
"I like him a lot. I think he likes me. Probably likes me less now than he did before we did what we're doing," he quipped.
