Trump, Xi “don’t have any plans” to speak amid tariff standoff, says U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer

U.S. trade representative ambassador Jamieson Greer said Sunday that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping “don’t have any plans” to speak amid an escalating trade war between the two countries.

“Since April 2, we have this at the leaders level, and at some point, as President Trump has pointed out, we expect that we’ll be able to have a conversation with them,” Greer said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

In what Mr. Trump dubbed “Liberation Day” on April 2, the president announced that the U.S. would impose a minimum baseline of 10% tariffs on goods imported from all foreign countries, along with higher, “reciprocal” tariffs on nations that impose tariffs on U.S. exports. Then, shortly after the tariffs went into effect, Mr. Trump announced a 90-day pause on most of his new tariffs after U.S. and global financial markets plunged. At the same time, the president said he would increase the tariff rate on goods imported from China to 125%. A 20% fentanyl tariff brings Mr. Trump’s universal tariffs on China to a total of 145%.

China said Friday that it would raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% in response, arguing in a statement that the U.S. imposition of the levies violates international economic and trade rules, while also calling the rising tariffs a “joke.”

Despite questions swirling about how the lower the temperature between the two countries, Greer insisted that the president is working to reshore American manufacturing and trade as part of a broader global issue. Greer said “the only reason we’re really in this position right now is because China chose to retaliate.”

“So many other countries affirmatively said they did not want to retaliate, ‘we want to negotiate with the Americans,'” Greer said. “And the Chinese made a different decision … It was a Chinese decision. They have agency here.”

The trade representative said when asked whether the U.S. is prepared for the possibility that China could sell assets it holds in the United States that the issue is “we’ve become so dependent on China” and haven’t had fair market access for decades.

“We see China taking action, implementing their policy to try to be less tied up with us as well. So it’s not surprising to see them making these kinds of moves,” Greer said, adding that “we obviously have to be prepared on our part to have a resilient economy.”

When asked what happens after the 90-day pause, and whether the period given enough time to negotiate with 70 countries, Greer said conversations have been underway since before the tariffs were announced, “because everyone knew tariffs were coming.”

“The reality is, we’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries with respect to how they can better achieve reciprocal trade with the United States,” Greer said.