President Donald Trump said the U.S. may be able to avoid a trade war with China if Beijing is willing to open its market more to American products, offering a path away from a confrontation over tariffs.
A week after escalating trade tensions with his threat to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese products, Trump said Thursday the two countries ultimately may end up levying no new tariffs on each other.
‘Now we’re really negotiating and I think they’re going to treat us really fairly,” Trump said. “I think they want to.”
Trump’s remarks during a meeting with Republican governors and lawmakers from farm states reinforced conciliatory signals the administration has been sending this week on the trade dispute. The GOP political leaders are especially concerned about the impact trade retaliation from China could have on U.S. agriculture, which relies heavily on exports to China. The Asian nation said listed U.S. soybeans and pork among its prime targets for proposed retaliatory duties.
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