Trump doesn't specify deadline for new tariffs on China

US President Donald Trump declined to set a deadline on Wednesday for the latest tariffs he is planning to impose on Chinese goods.

“I have no deadline,” he told a news conference on Wednesday, gesturing to his head. “My deadline is what’s up here. We’ll figure out the deadline. Nobody can quite figure it out.”

Therefore, it’s not yet clear when the tariffs that would see another $325bn-worth of Chinese goods affected might come into action, if at all.

Trump called the relationship with Beijing good but “testy” after China walked back on commitments for a trade deal.

“I think that we’ll end up making a deal with China. We have a very good relationship, although it’s a little bit testy right now, as you would expect. I think they really have to make a deal,” he said.

The president is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month during the next G20 summit and has already threatened increase tariffs if the meeting does not happen or goes south.

Following Trump’s latest comments, on Thursday China’s commerce ministry said that Beijing will not yield to any “maximum pressure” from Washington. Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said that the US should not try to force a deal on China or it will fail.

He also told reporters that China had not reneged on promises to the US, adding: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”