President Trump is back in Washington D.C. after spending the past three days at the G-7 Summit in France.
World leaders met to discuss a variety of topics ranging from Iran, the global economy and the environment. But all eyes were on China over the course of the summit and according to President Trump, the United States is in a good position to finally get a trade deal.
"The Vice Chairman of China came out that he wants to see a deal made. He wants it to be made under calm conditions, using the word calm," Trump said during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. “It’s not a question of behavior. I think they want to make a deal, and I they should make a deal, and I think if they don’t make a deal, it’s going to be very bad for China. And I very much appreciate the fact that they came out last night, very late last night, and they said, you know, they want to make a deal. They want it to be under calm circumstances. It was a little different kind of a statement. I thought it was a beautiful statement. I thought it indicated a lot.”
"They lost 3 million jobs – it’ll soon be much more than 3 million jobs. Their chain is breaking. Their chain is breaking up like nobody has seen before,” he continued. “I think they very much want to make a deal and the longer they wait, the harder it is to put it back, if it can be put back at all...The tariffs have hit them very hard. In a fairly short period of time the United States will have collected over $100 billion in tariffs.”
As President Trump referenced, the Chinese government also seems to be coming to the table and stated over the weekend they are prepared to continue talks that will ultimately lead to a conclusion.
“We are willing to resolve the issue through consultations and cooperation in a calm attitude and resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war,” Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said. “We believe that the escalation of the trade war is not beneficial for China, the United States, nor to the interests of the people of the world."
In September, the Trump administration will take part in the 20th round of official trade talks with China.