Trump spoke in an interview with Fox, referring to his phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping:
- “It went fine. It was a good, friendly conversation”
- “I can do that,” Trump said in the interview when asked if he could make a deal with China over fair trade practices.
- Trump said he would rather not use tariffs against China but called tariffs a “tremendous power.” “But we have one very big power over China, and that’s tariffs, and they don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it, but it’s a tremendous power over China”
Since assuming office, Trump has discussed implementing a 10% penalty tariff on Chinese imports, citing concerns that fentanyl is being smuggled from China into the U.S. through Mexico and Canada.
However, despite his campaign promises, he did not impose these tariffs right away. He has also issued tariff threats against the European Union, Mexico, and Canada.
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The USD fell on his remarks, and is losing a little more as I post.
Yuan has strengthened also – CNH to its strongest since December 11.