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Trump: "My plan B with China on trade is to reduce business with China"

26 June 2019 16:59 (UTC +04:00)

Earlier, the president threatened to slap tariffs on the remaining $300 billion in Chinese goods coming into the United States unless Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to meet with him at the G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan to hammer out a trade deal favourable to Washington, APA reports citing Sputnik.

President Donald Trump has reiterated his promise to slap additional tariffs on China if a trade deal is not reached, saying that he was "happy" with things as they are and that China needed the deal more than the US did since its economy was hit hard by the existing restrictions.

"I would do additional tariffs, very substantial additional tariffs, if that doesn't work, if we don't make a deal," Trump said. "China's economy is going down the tubes - they want to make a deal," he stressed, speaking to Fox News Business on Wednesday morning.

The president said that the US could hold off on fresh tariffs if a deal is reached at the G20 meeting. The new tariffs could amount to a 10 percent tax on all Chinese imports into the United States, rather than the 25 percent figure mentioned earlier, Trump clarified.

Trump added that the US side has been talking to its Chinese counterparts on the trade issue over the past few days.

During the interview, Trump also took aim at Vietnam, saying US negotiators have been talking to Vietnamese officials over Hanoi's approach to trade with the US, which Trump said is even 'worse than China.'

Germany 'Delinquent' on NATO Obligations

Turning to NATO defence, Trump accused Germany of being "delinquent" on its NATO defence spending obligations.

"So Germany is paying Russia billions and billions of dollars for energy, okay," he said. "So they are giving Russia billions of dollars yet we are supposed to protect Germany and Germany is delinquent, okay?" he added.