(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Yu-mi = Regarding growing concerns over a US-China trade conflict, US President Donald Trump said on the 12th (local time),"The US is not trying to hurt China, but to help it."
President Trump said this on the social media platform TruthSocial on the same day, saying,"Don't worry about China. Everything will be fine."
"The highly respected President Xi Jinping just had a brief downturn," he said, adding,"He doesn't want his country to go through a recession, and neither do I."
As China recently strengthened its export controls on rare earth elements, President Trump responded on the 10th by announcing that he would impose an additional 100% tariff on China starting on the 1st of next month.
The US and China engaged in a tariff war in April, imposing tariffs of over 100% on each other. However, high-level negotiations have since brought the situation to a lull, and concerns have been raised that the trade conflict between the two countries could escalate again.
President Trump's remarks that day are interpreted as a conciliatory gesture, suggesting that the conflict between the two countries may not escalate depending on China's future stance.
At the same time, it can be seen that there is still a warning message that if China insists on controlling rare earth exports, the United States will take corresponding measures, which could lead to a recession in the Chinese economy.
President Trump met with reporters on Air Force One en route to Israel that day and said,"I think we can do well with China," and "I have a good relationship with President Xi."
He added,"He is a very strong person and a very smart person. He is a great leader of China."
When asked if he still plans to impose 100% additional tariffs on China starting November 1, Trump said,"Right now, yes, but we'll see what happens."
He also said,"November 1st seems like a very long time in the future to me. It might seem imminent to other people, but November 1st feels like a long time in the future to me," suggesting there is room for negotiation before the tariffs he announced would be imposed.
