Trump says Chinese delegation coming to US next week for trade talks

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Thursday a delegation from China would come to the United States next week for more trade talks.

“China’s delegation coming in next week. We’re going to have a meeting with them. We’ll see. But we’re doing very well,” Trump said before leaving on a trip to Florida.

“I have a lot of options on China. But if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power,” he added.

Beijing and Washington have already imposed duties on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, which are weighing on their manufacturing sectors and have shaken global financial markets.

Trade data

The talks may have received some tailwinds from the latest trade data out of Washington, showing the US global trade deficit narrowing in March.

Bilateral trade in coming months could be hurt by US and Chinese buyers planning to avoid tariffs, with news this week that China may already be downsizing its soybean imports from the US.

“Whatever they’re buying is non-US,” said Soren Schroder, CEO of agricultural giant Bunge Limited.

“They’re buying beans in Canada, in Brazil, mostly Brazil, but very deliberately not buying anything from the US,” Schroder said in the interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

Soybeans were China’s largest import from the US last year, worth $14 billion.