White House wants ‘concrete steps’ before scrapping China tariffs

Washington (AFP) – The White House on Tuesday tempered Donald Trump’s praise of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s trade comments, saying concrete action was needed before Washington would consider scrapping tariffs against Beijing.

“We’re encouraged by the words, but we want to see concrete steps and concrete action,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said shortly after Trump praised Xi’s “kind words” and “enlightenment.”

“We want to see more than just the rhetoric,” she added, saying until that happened, tariffs would continue to enter into force.