A+ A-

Trump to possibly extend deadline on Chinese trade negotiation, meet Xi

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (KUNA) -- President Donald Trump said Friday that "there is a possibility" that he will extend the deadline on trade negotiations with Beijing which would delay putting tariffs on China if an agreement is not reached.
"But if I do that, if I see that we are close to a deal or the deal is going in the right direction I would do that at the same tariffs that we are charging now, I would not increase the tariffs," Trump said at the White House.
The president noted that he may meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping after Chinese officials hold further discussions in Washington next week.
"I'll be meeting with President Xi at some point after that to maybe for some remaining deals, we'll make them directly, one-on-one ourselves," Trump said.
The president described that the discussions were going "extremely well" and are bringing the US "closer than we ever were in this country with having a real trade deal." "We're going to be leveling the playing field. The tariffs are hurting China very badly. They don't want them and frankly, if we can make the deal it'd be my honor to remove them," Trump added. (pickup previous) ak.ibi