US President Donald Trump struck a conciliatory tone on Sunday (Oct 12), saying the United States “wants to help China, not hurt it,” just days after threatening to impose an additional 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods.
Trump had warned on Friday that he would raise tariffs starting Nov 1 in response to what he called China’s “extraordinarily aggressive” new export restrictions on the rare-earths industry.
He also suggested he might cancel a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, sending Wall Street stocks tumbling amid fears of a renewed trade war.
On Sunday, however, Trump appeared to soften his stance, posting on Truth Social: “The USA wants to help China, not hurt it! Respected President Xi doesn’t want Depression for his country.”
Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce fired back, calling Trump’s tariff threat “a typical example of double standards,” and accused Washington of escalating economic measures against China since September.
“Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China,” the ministry said in a statement.
Currently, US tariffs on Chinese goods stand at 30 per cent, while China maintains 10 per cent retaliatory tariffs on American products.
