
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a state dinner in in Beijing in 2014. Trump has not ruled out a meeting between the two leaders at a later date. | Thomas Peter/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Thursday he is unlikely to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline for the two countries to reach a trade deal.
"No," he told reporters at a White House event when asked if he still expected to meet with Xi this month. "Unlikely," he said.
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Trump did not rule out a meeting at a later date but said nothing had been set.
CNBC first reported earlier in the day that Trump and Xi were unlikely to meet before the March 1 deadline, even after Trump raised expectations last week that face-to-face discussions could take place by then. A senior administration official confirmed to POLITICO that a meeting was doubtful.
Trump has pledged to raise duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent, from 10 percent currently, if the two sides fail to reach a deal by March 1. He has already imposed a 25 percent duty on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods and Beijing has responded by setting duties on $110 billion of American exports.
Trump tweeted last week that "no final deal will be made until my friend President Xi, and I, meet in the near future to discuss and agree on some of the long standing and more difficult points." The administration wants China to change policies that it believes unfairly discriminate against American firms and steal their intellectual property. It's also asking for Beijing to take actions that will reduce the trade deficit that the U.S. has with China. The trade gap has risen to new records in 2017 and 2018 under Trump‘s presidency.
Trump's comments last week prompted speculation that he would meet with Xi either shortly before or after his coming summit with North Korean President Kim Jong Un. He announced during his State of the Union speech this week that the Kim meeting would be held Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam. But he made no mention of a possible Xi meeting.
The United States is not expected to extend its March 1 deadline for reaching a deal. To do so, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would have to file a Federal Register notice, as it did in December, when it extended an earlier deadline. So far, there is no sign of that.
A large U.S. delegation led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is headed to China next week for more trade talks. Mnuchin said Wednesday he believed both sides shared a commitment to reaching a deal by March 1.
China‘s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, hosted American officials, journalists and business leaders Wednesday night at the Chinese Embassy to mark the Lunar New Year and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China.
Without directly addressing the ongoing talks, Cui stressed the benefits of cooperation between the two countries. "We need to stay open to each other and get more connected," Cui said. "Each has its own strength. Each is complementary to each other.“
But he also warned about the detriment of severely restricting economic ties, as some hard-liners in the U.S. advocate.
"There will always be differences between us, but they should be addressed on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit,“ Cui said. "The so-called decoupling would be disastrous for both economies and the world economy at large.”
Adam Behsudi contributed to this report.
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