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Trump renews trade pressure China, calls himself ‘Tariff Man’

Trump renews trade pressure China, calls himself ‘Tariff Man’

Posted December. 06, 2018 08:22,   

Updated December. 06, 2018 08:22

한국어

U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his trade pressure on China, calling himself a “Tariff Man,” right after reaching an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a 90-day trade truce with China.

On Tuesday (local time), Trump wrote on Twitter: “The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina. Bob Lighthizer will be working closely with Steve Mnuchin, Larry Kudlow, Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro on seeing whether or not a REAL deal with China is actually possible.”

He went on to say, “China is supposed to start buying Agricultural product and more immediately. President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will. But if not remember,...... I am a Tariff Man.”

His tweets are interpreted as an expression‎ of his expectation over 90 days of trade negotiations with China and a reminder of consequences that would follow a failed deal to pressure China for immediate and sincere talks. On the New York Stock Exchange, increased uncertainties over the U.S.-China trade negotiations and anxiety over an economic slowdown brought down all of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Index by over 3 percent. The New York Times reported that the stock market tumbled after Trump tweeted over trade.

During the Wall Street Journal’s CEO council on Tuesday, John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, also put pressure on China, called for legislation to ban imports of products or services generated from theft of American intellectual property.

On the same day, Trump pressed representatives of German automakers – Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW – to increase investment and production in the United States.


Yong Park parky@donga.com