WASHINGTON, Jan 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump said
Wednesday that Washington is doing “very well” in trade talks with China and
that Beijing is keen to strike a deal ending their trade war.
China “wants to make a deal,” he said at the White House. “We’re doing
very well in the negotiations.”
Data showing China’s economy grew at its weakest pace in three decades
have fuelled fears it is heading for a rocky patch, exacerbated by the
pressure from US tariffs.
Trump argues that China has skewed the trading rules for decades and must
agree to substantial reductions in import barriers, while boosting protection
for US intellectual property.
However, the tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two main economic
powers have also hurt US economic confidence and markets are waiting
anxiously for a deal.
On Wednesday, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan told an audience at the
World Economic Forum in Davos that “the Chinese and US economies are mutually
indispensable, so their relations must be mutually beneficial and win-win.”