Trump announces China visit amid row over tariffs

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced on Monday he will visit China early next year at Beijing’s invitation.

“I’ve been invited to go to China, and I’ll be doing that sometime fairly early next year. We have it sort of set,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Earlier, Trump said that United States wants to help China, not hurt it after threatening an additional 100 per cent tariff on the world’s second-largest economy.

 “The USA wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” Trump a post on Truth Social, adding that “respected President Xi (Jinping)… doesn’t want Depression for his country.”

Trump had said that he would impose the extra levies from November 1 in response to what he called “extraordinarily aggressive” new Chinese export curbs on the rare-earths industry.

Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, with its Ministry of Commerce on Sunday calling Trump’s tariff threat a “typical example of ‘double standards’.”

Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 per cent under levies that Trump imposed while accusing Beijing of aiding in the fentanyl trade as well as unfair trade practices.

Currently, China’s retaliatory tariffs are at 10 per cent.

 Earlier, China said that the United States should take steps to remove “unreasonable” US tariffs on China and create conditions to expand two-way trade.