WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had no specific deadline for a trade deal with China that would allow Beijing to escape the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on $300 billion worth of exports to the United States.
“I have no deadline. My deadline is what’s up here?” Trump told reporters as he pointed at his head during a White House news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
“We’ll figure out the deadline,” said Trump.
US leaves door open to China on trade talks at G20
The United States is open to further negotiations with China on their ongoing trade battle but any potential deal will wait until the two leaders meet at the end of the month, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on June 8.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs, Washington’s top finance official warned that Washington would press on with tariffs if a deal could not be reached.
“We were on the way to a historic deal. If they want to come back to the table and complete the deal on the terms that we were continuing to negotiate, that will be great. If not, as the president said, we’ll move on with tariffs,” said Mnuchin.
