U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that the U.S. was meeting will almost all countries, including China, for trade deals, noting that his main priority with China was to secure a fair trade deal.
Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force One that he had no plans to speak with China’s President Xi Jinping this week, but U.S. officials were speaking with Chinese officials about several matters.
Trump signals potential trade deal announcements
When asked if any trade deals would be announced this week, Trump said that there could “very well be” but gave no additional details.
Trump suggested that a trade deal would not be reached with some countries. Instead, the U.S. could set certain tariffs on those trading partners in the next few weeks. The president did not clarify if he was referring to the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2, which are due to kick in on July 8 after a 90-day pause.
Trump’s top officials have held several meetings with trading partners since the imposition of the sweeping 10 percent tariff on April 2, along with higher levies for many other trading partners that were then suspended for 90 days. The U.S. has also imposed a 25 percent tariff on autos, steel and aluminum, 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 145 percent tariffs on China.
Trump reiterated his stance that China had been “ripping us for many years”, adding that former President Richard Nixon’s move to reach out and establish relations with China was “the worst thing” he ever did.
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100 percent tariff on foreign-made movies
On Sunday, Trump also announced a 100 percent tariff on movies produced outside the country, noting that the American movie industry was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries were offering to lure filmmakers.
Trump added that he was authorizing the relevant government agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, to immediately begin the process of imposing a 100 percent tariff on all films produced abroad that are then sent into the United States.
