Trump growing frustrated with China, weighs trade steps - officials

[webfact]

Trump growing frustrated with China, weighs trade steps - officials

By Steve Holland

 

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues and is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing, three senior administration officials told Reuters.

 

The officials said Trump was impatient with China and was looking at a range of options, including tariffs on steel imports, which Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross already has said he is considering as part of a national security study of the U.S. steel industry.

 

Whether Trump would actually take any steps against China remains unclear. In April, he backed off from a threat to withdraw from NAFTA after he said that Canadian and Mexican leaders telephoned him asking him to halt a planned executive order in favour of opening discussions.

 

The officials said there was no consensus yet on the way forward with China and they did not say what other options were being studied. No decision was expected this week, a senior official said.

 

Chinese steel already is subject to dozens of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy orders. As a result it has only a small share of the U.S. market.

 

"What’s guiding this is he ran to protect American industry and American workers," one of the U.S. officials said, referring to Trump's 2016 election promise to take a hard line on trade with China.

 

On North Korea, Trump "feels like he gave China a chance to make a difference" but has not seen enough results, the official said.

 

The United States has pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to help rein in its nuclear and missile programs. Beijing has repeatedly said its influence on North Korea is limited and that it is doing all it can.

 

"They did a little, not a lot," the official said. "And if he's not going to get what he needs on that, he needs to move ahead on his broader agenda on trade and on North Korea."

 

The death of American university student Otto Warmbier last week, after his release from 17 months of imprisonment in Pyongyang, has further complicated Trump’s approach to North Korea, his top national security challenge.

 

Trump signalled his disappointment with China's efforts in a tweet last week: “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”

 

Trump had made a grand gesture of his desire for warm ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he played host to Xi in April at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.

 

"I think China will be stepping up," Trump said at the time.

 

Since then, however, North Korea's tests of long-range missiles have continued unabated and there have been reports Pyongyang is preparing for another underground nuclear test.

 

Trump dropped by last Thursday as White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner were meeting with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi, an official said.

 

China's inability to make headway on North Korea was one of the topics that was discussed, according to two people familiar with the meeting. Officials in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment on the meeting.

 

Trump met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday at the White House and made a point of noting that the United States, India and Japan would be joining together in naval exercises soon in the Indian Ocean, a point that seemed aimed at India rival Beijing.

 

Trump also thanked India for joining the United States in imposing new sanctions against North Korea.

 

(Additional reporting by John Walcott; Editing by Ross Colvin and Bill Trott)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-28

[tonray]

Good Luck with that...unlikely that Donald will be able to outsmart the Chinese leadership.

[Jingthing]

12 minutes ago, tonray said:

Good Luck with that...unlikely that Donald will be able to outsmart the Chinese leadership.

It's not even a fair fight.

A comic book toddler man with no attention span against the leader of a culture with a very long view. 

[YetAnother]

quite predictable really; he should have envisioned this

[darksidedog]

Trump is correct in his assertion that the Chinese could be doing significantly more about North Korea. They could cut off all exports there and life would become very uncomfortable in Pyongyang very quickly. The Chinese have by now worked out who they are dealing with, so watching Donald try to move them away from their own China first agenda will be like watching Ronald McDonald try to knock out Tyson Fury.

[tonray]

23 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

quite predictable really; he should have envisioned this

He didn't because "I'm a really smart guy" who does not need daily intelligence briefings because they cut into his "fox and friends" viewing time. 

[Credo]

China is very passive-aggressive in how it deals with situations.   They say 'yes, yes, yes', but then they do whatever it was they were going to do anyway.   

 

Trump is someone who is a bully and bullies can't deal with passive-aggressive people.   

 

 

[dunroaming]

China rules and they call the shots if and when they choose to do so.  On the other hand you have the joke known as Donald Trump who the world just laughs at.

[fakename]

China first, Saudi first, He will learn that others can play the same game. In the meantime, there is still Cuba to threaten.

[Srikcir]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

looking at a range of options,

Stop the import of Ivanka shoes, Donald Trump clothing and accessories into the US or place a 500% import tariff. Conflict with personal wealth, surely not.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

On 6/28/2017 at 2:51 PM, dunroaming said:

China rules and they call the shots if and when they choose to do so.  On the other hand you have the joke known as Donald Trump who the world just laughs at.

But who will be laughing and struck with panic if and when North Korea has fully-operational long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads capable of reaching America?  Here is a clue:  America, South Korea and Japan just for starters.