U. S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he could let the March 1 deadline for a trade agreement with China “slide for a little while,” but that he would prefer not to and expects to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to close the deal at some point.
WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) – U. S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he could let the March 1 deadline for a trade agreement with China “slide for a little while,” but that he would prefer not to and expects to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to close the deal at some point.
U. S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China are scheduled to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent if the two sides cannot reach a deal by the deadline, increasing pain and costs in sectors from consumer electronics to agriculture.
Trump’s advisers have previously described March 1 as a “hard deadline,” but Trump told reporters for the first time that a delay was now possible.
“If we’re close to a deal where we think we can make a real deal and it’s going to get done, I could see myself letting that slide for a little while,” Trump said of the deadline at a White House cabinet meeting. “But generally speaking, I’m not inclined to do that.”
“We’re doing very well over in China,” Trump added.
