Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Post Magazine

    Donald Trump says he might let March 1 deadline for new China tariffs 'slide' if trade war deal is near

    by Owen Churchill Feb 13, 2019 1 minute

    US President Donald Trump will consider pushing back a March 1 deadline for trade negotiations with China if both sides are close to making a deal, he told reporters on Tuesday.

    "But generally speaking, I'm not inclined to do that," he added.

    A move in the deadline would likely rattle hardliners within the administration. Speaking in December in the wake of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting at the G20, US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said that March 1 was a "hard deadline".

    A deputy-level delegation, led by deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish, has been conducting preparatory talks in the Chinese capital since Monday.

    "We have a big team over in China right now, and they're working very hard, dealing with the Chinese", said Trump, adding his frequently repeated assertion that China "wants to make a deal very badly".

    US trade tactics and Huawei case show 'West wants repeat of opium wars'

    Trump has said on several occasions that any final deal will be brokered between himself and Xi in person, with White House adviser Kellyanne Conway telling Fox News on Monday that the US president wanted to meet his Chinese counterpart "very soon".

    But Trump, who said last week that it was unlikely he would meet Xi before the March 1 deadline, appeared to pour more cold water on the prospect of an imminent face-to-face on Tuesday when he said there was no plan "as of this moment" to meet with Xi at the end of March.

    This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

    Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

    More from Post Magazine

    Post Magazine3 min readSecurity
    China-Russia Military Exercises Near Taiwan Force US To Revise Plans, Intelligence Chiefs Say
    China's joint military exercises with Russian forces near Taiwan have prompted new US defence planning, two top US intelligence officials told Congress on Thursday. The admission came during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in whi
    Post Magazine4 min readWorld
    US Tariffs Review Of Over US$300 Billion Worth Of Chinese Imports Almost Done, Says Top Trade Envoy
    Washington's top trade envoy assured sceptical Republican lawmakers on Tuesday that the long-awaited results of the Biden administration's review of US tariffs on more than US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports were "very close to the conclusion".
    Post Magazine4 min readInternational Relations
    For Chinese At Columbia University, Pro-Palestinian Protests Evoke Sympathy And Fear
    "I have to cover my face with scarves even when I donate pillows and bedsheets to the campers," a Chinese student at Columbia University in New York told the Post this week. The 29-year-old, who asked only to be identified as "Lu", acknowledged takin

    Related Books & Audiobooks