President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday he doesn’t expect to be able to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the trade war between the two countries escalates at the beginning of March.
In December, Trump agreed to postpone a plan to raise the rates of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods until March 1, giving the countries more time to negotiate an end to the trade war that has resulted in Chinese retaliatory tariffs on virtually all U.S. agricultural exports.
On Jan. 31, Trump met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He after two days of negotiations in Washington and said he planned on meeting with Xi in late February before the deadline. That was before Trump confirmed he will meet North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 27, crowding the U.S. president’s schedule.
Trump did not rule out extending the deadline on that Jan. 31 meeting, but explained at the time it was because it didn’t look like it needed to be extended.
The U.S. and China continue to negotiate, with the next round of talks expected to happen in Beijing. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is scheduled to announce on Friday the timing of those new talks.
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