US President Donald Trump said he would prefer not to have to impose tariffs on China, his latest dovish remark toward the world’s second-biggest economy even as he continues to threaten sweeping action.
Asked if he could stop the Chinese president from taking Taiwan and reach a trade agreement, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the US had a “very big power over China, and that’s tariffs, and they don’t want them.”
“And I’d rather not have to use it. But it’s a tremendous power over China,” he said in the interview that aired on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
Trump has wielded tariffs as a frequent threat against friends and adversaries, while promising voters that the additional revenue would help fund his domestic priorities.
On his second day in office, he threatened to put 10 percent tariffs on China as soon as Saturday next week for allowing fentanyl to “pour” into the US.
Markets have taken it as a positive sign that Trump stopped short of imposing tariffs on China in his first days in office, and his recent threats were softer than those issued last year. During his presidential campaign, the Republican floated additional levies on China of about 60 percent.
The yuan extended gains and rose 0.6 percent in both onshore and offshore markets after Trump’s latest comments. Chinese stocks also extended gains, with the benchmark CSI 300 Index ending the day up 0.8 percent.
In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) yesterday said there were “huge common interests” between the US and China.
“The two sides should step up dialogue and consultation,” she said at a regular press briefing.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS