President Donald Trump pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear programme and help reduce the gaping U. S. trade deficit with Beijing in talks on Friday, even as he toned down the strident anti-China rhetoric of his election campaign.
PALM BEACH, Fla.: President Donald Trump pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear programme and help reduce the gaping U. S. trade deficit with Beijing in talks on Friday, even as he toned down the strident anti-China rhetoric of his election campaign.
Trump spoke publicly of progress on a range of issues in his first U. S.-China summit – as did several of his top aides – but they provided few concrete specifics other than China’s agreement to work together to narrow disagreements and find common ground for cooperation.
As the two leaders wrapped up a Florida summit overshadowed by U. S. missile strikes in Syria overnight, Xi joined Trump in stressing the positive mood of the meetings and at the same time papering over deep differences that have caused friction between the world’s two biggest economies.
Trump’s aides insisted he had made good on his pledge to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and said there was some headway, Xi agreeing to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting U. S. exports and reducing China’s trade surplus with the United States.
Speaking after the two-day summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also said that Xi had agreed to increased cooperation in reining in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs – though he did not offer any new formula for cracking Pyongyang’s defiant attitude.
Trump promised during the campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov.
