WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has resorted to hardball with Chinese President Xi Jinping (SHEE JEEN-PEENG) a year after he first tried to disarm him at Mar-a-Lago with smooth talk and hospitality.
But former U.S. officials and China experts say the acrimony over trade is unlikely to spill over into sensitive national security issues.
They say China has no interest in escalating the dispute and wants to reach a trade compromise with the U.S. There’s also plenty of opposition to tariffs from the U.S. side, including from supporters of Trump.
The threat of tariff wars between the two world powers has nevertheless roiled global markets and deepened mistrust between the two governments.
On Thursday, Trump instructed the U.S. trade representative to consider slapping $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
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