Trump says China reached out for talks after US tariffs

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that China has reached out for talks following Washington’s decision to impose new tariffs on imports from the country, noting that a deal involving the popular Chinese owned video-sharing app TikTok would be delayed until trade issues are resolved.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Beijing had made contact “a number of times” since the US announced a 145% tariff on certain Chinese goods.

“I have a very good relationship with President Xi (Jinping), and I think it's going to continue,” he said. “They have reached out a number of times…We're talking to China.”

Trump also said he believed a broader agreement with China is possible, but added that even without one, the US would move forward.

“I believe we're going to have a deal with China, and if we don't, we're going to have a deal anyway, because we're going to set a certain target, and that's going to be it,” he said.

Regarding TikTok, he said a deal concerning the platform—whose US operations have faced scrutiny over national security concerns—was effectively in place, but its finalization would be postponed.

“We have a deal for TikTok, but it'll be subject to China, so we'll just delay the deal till this thing works out,” he said.

“The TikTok deal is very good. TikTok is good for China. And I think they'd like to see us do a deal, especially the deal that we have pretty much done with some of the best companies in the world.”