Trump in ‘no rush’ to speak with China’s Xi despite tariff battle
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US President Donald Trump had signalled earlier that the talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could take place early this week.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Feb 4 he was not in a hurry to speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, despite expectations that they would hold talks after announcing tit-for-tat tariffs in a growing trade conflict.
Beijing said it was imposing levies on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment
“That’s fine,” Mr Trump said at the White House when asked about China’s retaliatory duties.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry called for dialogue between China and the US on Feb 5.
“What is needed now is not unilateral, additional tariffs but dialogue and consultation based on equality and mutual respect,” said Mr Lin Jian, spokesman at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at a regular news conference.
A new round of talks between Mr Trump and Mr Xi, building on their last telephone call two weeks ago, is seen as key to a potential easing or delay of US tariffs as conversations with Mexican and Canadian leaders did on Feb 3 in their bids to avert US tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods.
Mr Trump suspended duties on Mexico and Canada a day prior for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the US.
He had signalled earlier that the talks with Mr Xi could take place early this week, but addressing reporters at the White House on Feb 4 afternoon, he said he was in “no rush” to talk to Mr Xi.
US stock markets shrugged off weakness on Feb 4, but Chinese stocks saw volatility after markets opened on Feb 5 as the US Postal Service (USPS) said it was suspending inbound package shipments from China and Hong Kong “until further notice”.
It said letters and flats – large envelopes – would not be impacted.
The USPS made a U-turn later on Feb 5, and said in a statement: “The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery.”
Mr Trump imposed fresh 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods, on top of levies that were already in place against Washington’s biggest economic competitor. Mexico and Canada had faced 25 per cent tariffs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Feb 3 that Mr Trump was due to talk to Mr Xi, but on Feb 4 said she had no “updates on when that call will take place”.
“He is not going to allow China to continue to source and distribute deadly fentanyl into our country, that was the reason for this tariff,” Ms Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing of the White House.
“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,” Ms Leavitt told Fox Business Network earlier on Feb 4.
Mr Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said China hoped Washington would work with Beijing to ensure stable, healthy and sustainable ties between the two countries.
‘Malicious’
China unveiled 15 per cent levies on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the US, while crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles, and pickup trucks face 10 per cent duties.
Beijing says it will also probe US tech giant Google
China’s government said the measures were in response to the “unilateral tariff hike” by Washington. It said it would also file a complaint to the World Trade Organisation over the “malicious” levies. Additionally, it unveiled fresh export controls on rare metals and chemicals including tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, and molybdenum, used in a range of industrial appliances.
China is a major market for US energy exports and according to Beijing Customs data, imports of oil, coal and LNG totalled more than US$7 billion (S$9.4 billion) in 2024.
But that is dwarfed by China’s imports from more friendly powers such as Russia, from which it purchased US$94 billion-worth in 2024.
Last-minute deals
Mr Trump has made tariffs a key foreign policy tool of his second term, joking that the word tariff is the “most beautiful” in the dictionary.
The Republican billionaire said his duties aimed to punish countries for failing to halt flows of illegal migrants and drugs, including the powerful opioid fentanyl, into the US.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both struck last-minute deals with Mr Trump on Feb 3 to tighten border measures, leading to a 30-day pause on threatened levies.
Talks will continue for the next month on broader pacts.
Mexico said on Feb 4 it had begun the 10,000-strong border troop deployment it had promised Mr Trump as part of the agreement to halt tariffs.
“The deployment has already started,” Ms Sheinbaum told reporters.
More than 450,000 people have been murdered countrywide since Mexico launched a major offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
Mr Trudeau said Canada would appoint a “Fentanyl Czar” and list drug cartels as terrorist organisations. AFP, REUTERS
