The New York Times, citing unnamed sources.
officials in Donald Trump’s administration writing about a “deep rift” in the White House over how Washington should deal with China.
“In conversations over the past 10 days, several administration officials, insisting they could not speak for the record, described a White House that is deeply divided over how to handle Beijing. The trade war erupted before the many factions within the administration had even had time to define their positions, much less decide which issues were more important,” the NYT writes.
The publication writes that the result was a strategic incoherence – some officials went on television to argue that Trump’s duties on Beijing were intended to force the world’s second-largest economy into a deal, while others insisted that Trump was trying to create a self-sufficient American economy that would no longer depend on its main geopolitical rival, even if that meant abandoning $640 billion worth of bilateral trade in goods and services.
The White House has not yet reacted to this information.
US President Donald Trump on 9 April attributed his decision to once again sharply raise tariffs to “the disrespect that China is showing to global markets. After several rounds, the duty hikes have reached 145 per cent.
China on 11 April announced another import duty hike on US goods-this time to 125%
China, in turn, accuses the U.S. of launching a trade war. According to Beijing, the US actions violate the rules of international trade, the basic laws of economics and contradict common sense. According to the Chinese side, the constant increase of tariffs to absurd levels will eventually turn into a farce.