‘Want to be nice to China’: Trump said amid 155% glooming tariffs; blames previous US presidents for ‘rough’ ties
Amid an escalating tariff war with Beijing, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he wants to be “nice” to China but claimed that the country has been “very rough” with the United States over the years because America “never had smart presidents from a business standpoint.”The 79-year-old businessman-turned-president made the remarks while responding to a question from ANI on whether Washington would impose tariffs on China for buying crude oil from Russia. The comments came during Diwali celebrations at the White House, where Trump lit ceremonial lamps.
“I want to be nice to China. But China has been very rough with us over the years because we had presidents that weren’t smart from a business standpoint. They allowed China and every other country to take advantage of us,” Trump said.He added that starting November 1, China could face tariffs of about 155%, calling the situation “unsustainable” for Beijing. Trump argued that his tariff policies have boosted US national security and brought in “hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars” in revenue.“We’re getting hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars paid into the United States… We’ll start paying off debt,” he said, adding that the administration might soon make a “distribution” from tariff earnings to American citizens.Trump further claimed that the United States had collected $650 billion from the European Union, $550 billion from Japan and $350 billion from South Korea through trade duties. “Now we’re taking a lot of money, and it keeps people like this here because that’s why they’re coming in,” he remarked.During the same interaction, Trump said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that India had “cut back” on buying Russian oil.“He’s not going to buy much oil from Russia. He wants to see that war end as much as I do,” Trump said, referring to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.Trump’s latest remarks came a day after he said he wanted to strike a “fair” and “fantastic” trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping, while also warning that Beijing could be in “big trouble” if it avoided doing business with the US.“If they don’t do business with us, I think China is in big trouble… I want them to do great. I want them to thrive. But we have to thrive together. It’s a two-way street,” he said earlier this week.Since returning to the White House, Trump has already imposed additional 30% tariffs on Chinese goods, bringing total duties to around 55–57%. He has also warned that the rate could rise further if talks fail. The White House says the tariff measures have earned the US “respect” from Beijing, while Chinese officials have dismissed the approach as counterproductive.The confrontation follows China’s decision to tighten export controls on rare earth elements, citing national security. The US responded by hiking import tariffs on Chinese goods by 100%, raising the total rate on some products to nearly 130%.Earlier this week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that as many as 85 senators were ready to back Trump’s authority to impose tariffs of up to 500% on Chinese imports over Beijing’s energy trade with Russia, a move that could further escalate tensions between the world’s two largest economies.On Tuesday, the president said he expects to finalize a “good” trade deal with President Xi at next week’s APEC summit in South Korea, adding that he anticipates “a very successful meeting” and noting that “a lot of people… are waiting for it.”He added, however, that the outcome was not guaranteed, saying, “Maybe it won’t happen. Things can happen where, for instance, somebody may decline to meet, saying it’s ‘too nasty.’ But it’s really not nasty.”
