US President Donald Trump said “it doesn’t matter” if Chinese President Xi Jinping agrees to meet him later this month to restart trade negotiations because the US is collecting billions of dollars in tariffs on goods from the country.
“If he shows up, good,” Trump told Fox News on Friday. “If he doesn’t – in the meantime, we’re taking in billions of dollars a month.” He added: “Eventually, they’re going to make a deal, because they’re going to have to. Look, they’re paying hundreds of billions of dollars.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to raise tariffs if Xi does not meet him at the June 28-29 Group of 20 leaders’ meeting in Osaka, Japan. Trump is committed to attending the summit regardless of whether he meets with Xi, US officials said. Trump said on Wednesday that he had no deadline for China to return to trade talks.
