Trump more frustrated with China
washington — President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues and is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing, three senior administration officials told Reuters.
The officials said Trump was looking at options including tariffs on steel imports, which Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross already has said he is considering as part of a national security study of the US steel industry.
Whether Trump would take any steps against China remains unclear.
In April, he backed off from a threat to withdraw from the Nafta after he said Canadian and Mexican leaders telephoned him asking him to halt a planned executive order in favour of opening discussions.
The officials said there was no consensus on the way forward with China and they did not say what other options were being studied.
No decision was expected this week, a senior official said.
Chinese steel already is subject to dozens of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy orders. As a result it has only a small share of the US market.
“What’s guiding this is he ran to protect American industry and American workers,” one of the US officials said, referring to Trump’s 2016 election promise to take a hard line on trade with China.
On North Korea, Trump “feels like he gave China a chance to make a difference” but has not seen enough results, the official said. —