By Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping within the next couple of days, setting up a major diplomatic exchange as the superpowers seek a deal that could avert a broader trade war.
Trump on Saturday ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China, as part of demands they stanch the flow of illegal fentanyl.
On Monday, Trump threatened to ramp up tariffs on China further, which were set at 10% on goods from that country, along with 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports, starting on Tuesday. He later paused the levies on Mexico after the country promised to reinforce its border with the United States.
But those tariffs stopped short of Trump’s campaign promises for vast new tariffs on Chinese goods, and on Monday he described the initial tranche as an “opening salvo.”
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” said Trump. “China will be dealt with,” he added.
Trump also repeated his opposition to Chinese involvement in logistics at the Panama Canal, a major trade crossing in the Americas.
“China’s involved with the Panama Canal. They won’t be for long,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; Editing by Franklin Paul, Lisa Shumaker and Alistair Bell)
