in New York

In a turnaround from the tough stance he took a week ago, US President Donald Trump said Friday that he planned to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in two weeks and suggested that imposing an additional 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese goods appeared unworkable.

But he also blamed China for the latest stand-off in trade talks.

The mercurial presidentcalled into question his planned sit-down with Xi seven days ago and threatened the draconian tariff increase in addition to existing tariffs effective November 1 after Beijing widened its export curbs on rare earth materials and technologies.

“It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is,” Trump said on Fox News, suggesting that Beijing had given him little option but to throw out such a high number. “They forced me to do that.”

Trump also threatened new export controls on “any and all critical software” effective November 1 as part of the tit-for-tat salvoes. That would come nine days before a reprieve on existing tariff increasesestimated at around 58 per cent set to expire on November 10.

Since his January inauguration, Trump has repeatedly set, delayed and reinstated tariff deadlines on China and a host of other trading partners, roiling markets and upending business plans.