US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the 2020 Council for National Policy meeting in Arlington, Virginia, US, August 21, 2020. REUTERS / Tom Brenner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump in a Fox News interview on Sunday mentioned the opportunity to disconnect the US economy from China, a major buyer of US goods.
In a video commentary, Trump initially told interviewer Steve Hilton “we do not have to” do business with China, and later said of the decoupling: “Well, it’s something that if they did not treat us well, I would surely, do that for sure. ‘
Trump waged a high-stakes trade war with China before entering a Phase 1 trade deal in January. Trump has closed the door since the Phase 2 negotiations, saying he was not happy with Beijing’s treatment of the pandemic.
In June, US Prime Minister Steven Mnuchin said a shutdown of the US and Chinese economies would result in US companies not being allowed to compete on a fair and fierce basis in China’s economy.
Report by Jan Wolfe; Edited by Daniel Wallis
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