Diplomatic sources say no high-level discussions to defuse the growing trade war have taken place since June
US President Donald Trump accused China of “being vicious” by targeting American farmers on Wednesday morning amid escalating trade tensions, but insisted that negotiations with Beijing were “going really well”, rather than having broken down as his top advisers publicly stated recently.
In postings on Twitter, Trump indicated that he’s still looking for a deal with China, but that Beijing’s retaliatory moves in response to Washington’s decision to impose tariffs on US$34 billion of Chinese imports will make it more difficult.
“China is targeting our farmers, who they know I love & respect, as a way of getting me to continue allowing them to take advantage of the U. S. They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice — until now!,” he wrote.
“When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity. Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it!”
His remarks effectively contradicted what Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on July 12: that negotiations with Beijing had “broken down”.
According to Chinese diplomatic sources and China experts in the United States, high-level talks and dialogue between Beijing and Washington have been put on hold since US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross made a visit to Beijing in early June.
Ross’s visit followed a Washington trip in May by Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, who is President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser.
The trips apparently failed to bring about a ceasefire with China over soaring trade frictions amid growing animosity, which have boiled into a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump’s tweets came after his administration announced on Tuesday that it would roll out a three-part, US$12 billion plan to subsidise American farmers caught in the trade war – a move China analysts warned signaled an escalation in the dispute.
Trump did not elaborate in his tweets about what negotiations he was referring to. Diplomatic sources said that while official exchanges between the two countries have been greatly reduced since the trade dispute flared in the past months, it was likely that communications might still be continuing at lower levels.
