Trump happy to keep tariffs

US President Donald Trump said yesterday he would be happy to keep tariffs on Chinese imports in place, adding that China is mistaken if it hopes to negotiate trade later with a Democratic presidential administration. “The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to ‘negotiate’ with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats,” Trump tweeted.

“Guess what, that’s not going to happen! China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the US to make a deal. We’ll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling US coffers,” he added. Meanwhile, Chinese trade officials headed to Washington for talks this week intend to “make a deal.” Citing sudden backtracking by the Chinese side after months of negotiations, the White House this week announced US tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports would more than double on Friday -- a prospect that had long sent shivers through the global economy.

Trump’s tweet suggested he was comfortable either with making a deal or with leaving the tariffs in place, however. Following the tariffs announcement, stock markets around the world sank for two trading days and Wall Street futures were still in the red shortly after 1300 GMT on Wednesday but were moving higher. After two straight declines spurred by trade war fears, Wall Street stocks were mildly positive early Wednesday on the eve of a key round of US-China talks. About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had edged up 0.1 percent to 25,980.89.