Donald Trump criticises ‘unfair’ trade relationship with China, stresses on ‘level playing field’

Washington: US President Donald Trump, affirmed hope of having a “very good relationship” with China under his administration, while also stressing the need to have a “level-playing field” regarding the trade situation.

Virtually addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Trump said, “He (Xi Jinping) called me. But I see it very good. I think that we are going to have a very good relationship,” Trump said, noting that the US has been facing significant trade deficits with China, a situation he attributed to former President Biden’s policies.”

Calling the relationship “unfair”, Trump said the US doesn’t want to take any advantage but wants fairness.

He also criticised the Biden administration for allowing the trade deficit to go “out of hand”.

“It is just an unfair relationship. We have to make it just fair…All we want is fairness. We just want a level playing field. We don’t want to take advantage. We have been having massive deficits with China. Biden allowed it to get out of hand…It is just an unfair relationship. We have to make it just fair. We don’t have to make it phenomenal, we have to make it a fair relationship. Right now, it’s not a fair relationship,” he said.

Trump pointed out that the US has been running large deficits with many countries, particularly in Asia, and stressed the need to address these imbalances.

“The deficit is massive as it is with other countries, a lot of Asian countries. But we have deficits that are very big and we can’t keep doing that. So, we are not going to keep doing that,” he said.

Despite these trade issues, Trump expressed his personal admiration for President Xi, describing their relationship as generally positive, even during strained moments, such as the outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan.

“I like President Xi very much, I have always liked him. We always had a very good relationship,” Trump said.

“It was very strained with Covid coming out of Wuhan…But we always had a great relationship, we look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China. Hopefully, China can help us stop the war with, in particular, Russia-Ukraine. They have a great deal of power over that situation,” he added.

Notably, the WEF summit, underway in Davos, Switzerland, from January 20 to 24, serves as a platform to deliberate on pressing global challenges, economic transformations, and sustainability goals.

Earlier, just days before his swearing-in, Trump held a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed a range of issues including trade, fentanyl, and TikTok.

Stressing the expectation that the two global leaders will “solve many problems together,” the then President-elect said they would do “everything possible” to make the world “more peaceful and safe”.

IANS