By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump avoided a question on Monday about whether he would extend an August 12 deadline for higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, saying, “we’ll see what happens,” as he lauded China’s cooperation in talks with the U.S.
“We’ve been dealing very nicely with China. As you have probably heard, they have tremendous tariffs that they’re paying to the United States of America,” Trump said at a news conference at the White House.
“They’ve been dealing quite nicely,” he said, adding that he had a good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
A tariff truce between Beijing and Washington is set to expire on August 12, but the Trump administration has hinted the deadline may be extended. If it is not, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will shoot up to 145%, with Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods set to hit 125%.
The two sides in May announced a truce in their trade dispute after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, agreeing to a 90-day period to allow further talks. They met again in Stockholm, Sweden in late July, but did not announce an agreement to further extend the deadline.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that Washington has the makings of a deal with China and he was “optimistic” about the path forward.
But Trump pushed for additional concessions on Sunday, urging China to quadruple its soybean purchases, although analysts questioned the feasibility of any such deal.
Trump did not repeat the demand on Monday.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunniccutt and Andrea ShalalEditing by Bernadette Baum)
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