US, China hold ‘trade deal talks’
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had a “long and very good call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a possible trade deal between the US and China was progressing well.
As a partial shutdown of the US government entered its eighth day, with no quick end in sight, the Republican Trump was in Washington, sending out tweets attacking Democrats and talking up possibly improved relations with China.
The two nations have been in a trade war for much of the year, shaking world financial markets as the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods between the world’s two largest economies has been disrupted by tariffs.
Trump and Xi agreed to a ceasefire in the trade war, deciding to hold off on imposing more tariffs for 90 days starting December 1 while they negotiate a deal to end the dispute following months of escalating tensions.
Chinese state media also said Xi and Trump spoke on Saturday, and quoted Xi as saying that teams from both countries have been working to implement a consensus reached with Trump. China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday the two countries’ relationship had endured storms before, but that strong ties were important for the economies of both nations and for ensuring global stability and peace.
Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that Sino-US ties now “stand at a historic new starting point” and that the two sides should respect each other’s sovereignty, security and development interest and appropriately manage differences.
Having cancelled his plans to travel to his estate in Florida for the holidays because of the government shutdown that started on December 22, Trump tweeted, “I am in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal”.
The Republican-controlled Congress was closed for the weekend and few lawmakers were in the capital.
The shutdown, affecting about one-quarter of the federal government including 800 000 or so workers, began when funding for several agencies expired.
Congress must pass legislation to restore that funding, but has not done so due to a dispute over Trump’s demand that the bill include $5 billion (R72bn) in taxpayer money to help pay for a wall he wants to build along the US-Mexico border.
The wall was a major 2016 campaign promise of Trump’s, who promised then that it would be paid for by Mexico, which has steadfastly refused to do so.
Trump has since demanded that US taxpayers pay for it at an estimated total cost of $23bn.
He sees the wall as vital to stemming illegal immigration, while Democrats and some Republicans see it as an impractical and costly project. The stand off over Trump’s demand for funding will be a test for Congress when it returns next week.
Trump tweeted on Saturday that the deaths of two migrant children this month who had been taken into US custody after trying to cross the southern border were “strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies”. days, and rejected that he had been trying to profit from his status as a former insider.