Beijing defies Trump warning not to retaliate in trade war

In a series of tweets, Trump, whose top economic adviser spent the weekend trying to defuse the trade war and demonstrate that trade negotiations between the two countries were proceeding, took aim at China, writing that the country wants "to make a deal so badly" because the trade war is causing it to lose business to "Vietnam and other such countries in Asia."

"There will be nobody left in China to do business with. Very bad for China, very good for USA! But China has taken so advantage of the U.S. for so many years, that they are way ahead (Our Presidents did not do the job)," he wrote in one tweet. "Therefore, China should not retaliate-will only get worse!"

Soon after Trump's tweets, China announced it will be raising tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods beginning on June 1. On Friday, the US hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese exports, prompting Beijing to vow "necessary countermeasures."

The President's tweets come a day after Larry Kudlow, the White House's top economic adviser, told Fox News that there is a "strong possibility" Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 economic summit in Japan next month, but noted that he expects China to retaliate against the US for its recent increase in tariffs on Chinese goods as Beijing has indicated it would.

Monday's developments were likely to shake up the markets, which have already been wavering in the wake of the recent tariff increases. Last December, when Trump introduced tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, the hike triggered a brief slowdown in the Chinese economy, prompting fears of a global economic downturn. But the renewed talks between the world's two largest economies had steadied markets in recent months.

CNN's Nanlin Fang and Sarah Westwood contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)