US President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States is “right where we want to be” with China as Beijing “broke the deal” in the ongoing trade talks between the two countries. The two countries have been locked in a trade war for several months.

“We are right where we want to be with China,” Trump said in a tweet. “Remember, they broke the deal with us & tried to renegotiate. We will be taking in Tens of Billions of Dollars in Tariffs from China. Buyers of product can make it themselves in the USA (ideal), or buy it from non-Tariffed countries.”

Advertisement

“We will then spend (match or better) the money that China may no longer be spending with our Great Patriot Farmers (Agriculture), which is a small percentage of total Tariffs received, and distribute the food to starving people in nations around the world,” he added, while signing off with the hashtag MAGA, or Make America Great Again.

On Saturday, Trump told China to strike a deal with the US immediately without delaying negotiations and waiting for the 2020 American presidential elections. He claimed that an agreement would be “far worse” for China if it was concluded in his second term.

On May 10, Trump increased import duty on most Chinese goods, worth a total of about $300 billion. In response, China had said it “deeply regrets” the US decision to increase tariffs and there were “issues of principle” on which it would not back down.

Advertisement

Both the countries have agreed to hold more trade talks in Beijing, according to Reuters.

China and the US have imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars on each other since last year. However, Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping reached an agreement in December 2018 to stop further escalation of the trade war. Trump had accused Beijing of indulging in unfair trade practices.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde had last week expressed concern over fresh trade tensions between the two countries. She said the tensions are a “threat to the world economy”.