Trump Tariff: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a message to China, declaring that the onus is on Beijing to make a trade deal with the United States. Speaking through White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump emphasised that China needs access to US consumers and their spending, underscoring America’s economic leverage.
“The ball is in China’s court,” Trump said in the statement. “China needs to make a deal with us — we don’t have to make a deal with them. There’s no difference between China and any other country, except they are much larger.”
Tariff talks to be used to isolate China
In a further escalation of trade tactics, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration plans to use ongoing tariff negotiations with more than 70 countries to isolate China economically. According to sources familiar with the discussions, US officials aim to persuade these nations to restrict Chinese companies from relocating or routing goods through their territories in an effort to bypass US tariffs.
This strategy represents a significant shift, as it extends tariff measures beyond bilateral US-China relations and seeks to enlist global partners in curbing Chinese trade practices.