Trump Warns Beijing Against Stalling Trade Talks Until After US Election

President Donald Trump said Sept. 3 trade talks with China were going well, but warned the Chinese regime against stalling until after the election. He warned that if he were to win re-election, the deal would get “much tougher.”

“We are doing very well in our negotiations with China,” Trump wrote in a tweet, adding that Beijing could not afford to drag its feet in talks given the damage that U.S. tariffs were inflicting on companies and jobs in China.

….And then, think what happens to China when I win. Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER! In the meantime, China’s Supply Chain will crumble and businesses, jobs and money will be gone! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2019

Trump said that while the Chinese regime “would love to be dealing with a new administration,” if the two sides could not resolve the dispute and he won re-election, the “Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER! In the meantime, China’s Supply Chain will crumble and businesses, jobs and money will be gone!”

In the latest escalation of the trade war with China, on Sept. 1, 15 percent tariffs on $112 billion worth of Chinese goods went into effect. The new tariffs target a wide range of goods imported from China, including clothes, shoes, furniture, diapers, and chocolate. At the same time, the Chinese regime’s new retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crude oil went into effect.

On Dec. 15, a second round of 15 percent tariffs will take effect on roughly $180 billion worth of Chinese goods. Once these tariffs take effect, virtually all goods imported from China will be tariffed.

The U.S. administration has also slapped 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, mainly focused on industrial equipment and machinery.

Trump also hit back at critics who said he should work with the EU and other countries to tackle China, saying that those countries have also treated the United States unfairly in trade.

“For all of the ‘geniuses’ out there, many who have been in other administrations and “taken to the cleaners” by China, that want me to get together with the EU and others to go after China Trade practices remember, the EU & all treat us VERY unfairly on Trade also. Will change!” he wrote.

For more than a year, the Trump administration has been engaged in a trade dispute with China, seeking to compel the Chinese regime to reform a raft of longstanding unfair trade practices including intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and subsidization of its domestic industries.

Trump on Sept. 1 said that the two sides were due to have in-person meetings in September.