US President Donald Trump on Monday warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that his country would be "hurt very badly" if a deal to end the year-long trade war between Washington and Beijing is not reached.
"I say openly to President Xi and all of my many friends in China that China will be hurt very badly if you don't make a deal because companies will be forced to leave China for other countries. Too expensive to buy in China. You had a great deal, almost completed and you backed out!" Trump said in a morning tweet.
His comments came after the US raised tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday after a breakdown of negotiations, in a sharp escalation of their trade war.
Trump in another series of tweets warned China against retaliation and defended the tariffs, saying Beijing will pay for them.
"Their is no reason for the US consumer to pay the tariffs, which take effect on China today. This has been proven recently when only 4 points were paid by the US, 21 points by China because China subsidizes product to such a large degree," Trump tweeted, although it was not clear what evidence he was citing.
"Also, the tariffs can be completely avoided if you buy from a non-tariffed country or you buy the product inside the USA (the best idea). That's zero tariffs. Many tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia," he said.
"There will be nobody left in China to do business with. Very bad for China, very good for USA! But China has taken so advantage of the US for so many years, that they are way ahead (Our Presidents did not do the job). Therefore, China should not retaliate-will only get worse!" he added.
Earlier, Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow said "both sides will suffer" from the trade dispute.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, he said that it was American businesses that paid the tariffs on any goods brought in from China, and that US consumers would also foot the bill if firms passed on the cost increase.
Many Democrats criticized Trump's reliance on tariffs and said their costs will be borne by farmers, not China.
Kudlow also said there was a "strong possibility" that Trump would meet Xi at a G20 summit in Japan in late June.
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