With Beijing curbing rare earth exports and shunning American soybeans, US President Donald Trump is raising pressure on China ahead of a planned meeting with Xi Jinping, threatening to halt imports while vowing to reopen its market to US farmers.
During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, when asked what he hoped to achieve from potential in-person talks with Xi later this month, the America-first president emphasised the US market’s leverage over China.
“We import from China massive amounts, and maybe we’ll have to stop doing that,” he said.
On soybeans, Trump said “we’re going to see more and more, I think, opening up” of the Chinese market and that he would discuss the issue directly with Xi when they meet later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in South Korea.
“I have things that I want to discuss with him. And one of the things is soybeans,” he added, recalling that he used to call Xi “every two weeks” during his first term to ensure Beijing stuck to their trade commitments.
Trump praised the Phase One trade deal, signed in 2020 after two years of negotiations, which he said had been working well before it unravelled following his departure from office – a collapse he attributed to his successor, Joe Biden, for failing to follow through.
