Donald Trump Tells China ‘Stop Playing Around’ During Slowest Economy Since 1990

In this Jan. 2, 2019, file photo, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He attends an event to commemor
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

President Donald Trump called on China to do a ‘Real Deal’ after numbers revealed it is experiencing the slowest economic expansion in 28 years.

“China posts slowest economic numbers since 1990 due to U.S. trade tensions and new policies,” Trump said Monday. “Makes so much sense for China to finally do a Real Deal, and stop playing around!

China’s economy grew at 6.6 percent last year, slipping from the prior year and marking the slowest economic growth for the nation since 1990. The dip could have been steeper, according to some investor forecasting, and the Asian market response to the new numbers.

December saw industrial output at 5.7 percent, slightly higher than November for China. This too was not as sharp a hit as the economists had predicted 5.3. China’s retail sales were up ever so slightly in December at 8.2 percent compared to 8.1 the month before.

Some experts have suggested China’s numbers may not be entirely accurate and that the country may be growing at a slower rate than the  reporting, a previous Breitbart News report noted.

The two nations have been locked in a tariff battle that met a temporary truce through a December 1 meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina. The agreement included a China’s commitment to 90 days of focused trade talks.

China recently agreed to boost purchases of certain U.S. goods that have been hit by China’s retaliatory tariffs. In early January a mid-level U.S. trade delegation traveled to Beijing. China’s Vice Premier Liu He participated, though it was not announced ahead of time that he would. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said following the talks that Liu is likely to travel to the U.S. for trade talks in Washington, DC in late January.

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.