It’s tough for China to strike a trade deal with US: Trump

Washington, Oct 18: President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it is hard for China to have a trade deal with America claiming the US has rebuilt the country but at the cost of a massive trade deficit.

US President Donald Trump

"We have rebuilt China, just so you understand. Our country has rebuilt China, with their hard work and genius also. But how our country has allowed itself to lose USD 500 billion a year, and much more than that, is ridiculous, is ridiculous," Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

The White House

"So, it's hard for them to do a deal, because they've had it so good for so long; it's a very hard thing for them to do," said the US president when asked why he told the Chinese that they are not ready for a trade deal yet. "You said the Chinese want to make a deal, but you told them they're (not ready yet)," he was asked.

"I told them they're not ready yet. No, because they've had -- they've made too much.." he said as he went to explain that Chinese have benefited a lot from the current trade relationship with the US and that is why they do not want any change.

"But we have a very good relationship with China. I have a great relationship with President Xi, and I think you'll see something happen that's going to be good for both countries," Trump said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping

The relation between US and China dates back to 1784 as they share an extreme economic relationship and the trade between two countries created positive political relations. As of 2018, United States has the world's largest economy and China being the second largest.

During Obama's tenure as a president, he met Xi Jinping in 2013 in an effort to build "new model of relations", as Obama supported One-China policy, military leadership between two countries started to improve the same year.

Former US President Barack Obama

After Trump became president, he had a conversation with Xi Jinping about issues such as denuclearisation and importance of trade development between two countries. However, his administration placed 16 billion tariffs on China in August 2018 after it was known that China supports cyber intrusions into US computer networks to gain unauthorised access to valuable business information.

PTI