(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on China again if President Xi Jinping doesn’t meet with him at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Japan.
Trump said in an interview with CNBC anchors on Monday that tariffs on about $300 billion in Chinese goods would be enacted immediately if the Chinese leader misses the summit.
“Yes, it would,” he said. “And I think he will go and I think we’re scheduled to have a meeting. I think he’ll go, and I have a great relationship with him, he’s actually an incredible guy, he’s a great man, he’s very strong, very smart, but he’s for China and I’m for the United States."
Trump has touted the migration agreement he struck with Mexico last week as a sign of his deal-making acumen. But trade talks with China hit an impasse last month after the president accused Beijing of reneging on provisions of a tentative agreement. The two countries have since escalated their trade war.
“China is going to make a deal because they’re going to have to make a deal,” Trump said Monday.
His reversal on a threat to impose new tariffs on Mexico over migration lifted the mood at the G-20 finance ministers’ meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, over the weekend. But the U.S. delegation left without any significant breakthrough on China.
Trump again hinted that part of the deal he struck with Mexico is not yet public.
He has claimed that the country agreed to purchase large amounts of U.S. agricultural products as part of the agreement, but Mexican officials say there is no such provision. Trump said on CNBC that the U.S. purposely isn’t discussing one of the aspects of the agreement yet, claiming that it is another “very powerful tool” for the U.S.
