Federal Government Policy and Business

China to Trump: We don't want a trade war - but if there is one, you'd lose

The Washington Post: BEIJING — China’s premier told the United States on Wednesday: We don’t want a trade war with you, but if one breaks out, your companies would bear the brunt. Yet despite tensions over jobs, currency rates and “security matters,” Li Keqiang told a news conference in Beijing ahead of the first visit by the new U.S. secretary of state that he remained optimistic about the future of China’s relationship with the United States. “Our hope on the Chinese side is that, no matter what bumps this relationship may run into, it will continue to move forward in a positive direction,” he said. The two countries share extensive common interests and should “sit down to talk to each other” to build trust and narrow differences, Li told journalists at the end of China’s annual parliamentary session, adding that diplomats were working toward a face-to-face meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Trump. Experts say China has been pushing hard to arrange such a meeting, realizing how important personal chemistry between the two leaders could be in maintaining stable ties, and U.S. media has since reported that one has been tentatively scheduled for April 6-7 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.

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