Trump appears to raise new doubts about trade deal

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump cast doubt Wednesday on the prospects for talks that are designed to head off a trade war between the United States and China.

Four days after the two countries suspended plans to impose tariffs on up to $200 billion of each other’s goods, Trump declared in a tweet that a more detailed agreement with China “will be too hard to get done.”

The president also predicted Wednesday that automakers and autoworkers would be “very happy” with the outcome of talks to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. He did not elaborate.

On yet another trade front, Trump officials are sparring with key U.S. allies — including Japan and the European Union — over tariffs that the administration imposed on imported steel and aluminum. The EU has so far been exempt from the tariffs, but its reprieve runs out June 1.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China, in particular, have shaken financial markets and alarmed business executives.

While saying the talks with China were “moving along nicely,” Trump said via Twitter Wednesday that the negotiations would require “a different structure” and would need to allow America to “verify results after completion.”

It was unclear what kind of structure the president had in mind.

After high-level talks last week in Washington, Beijing agreed in a joint statement with the U.S. to “substantially reduce” America’s trade deficit with China. But it failed to commit to shrink that deficit by any specific amount. The Trump administration had sought to slash the gap by $200 billion.