Trump suddenly changes his mind about meeting Xi Jinping: What happened
Photo: Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump said he sees "no reason" to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The reason was Chinese letters to other countries about export control, according to Trump's post on Truth Social.
"Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile and sending letters to Countries throughout the world, that they want to impose export controls on each and every element of production having to do with rare earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it's not manufactured in China," his post says.
According to Trump, such actions could block markets and create difficulties for almost every nation.
He added that several countries had already reached out to Washington, expressing outrage over China's "trade hostility."
Trump noted that US-China relations had been excellent over the past six months, which made Beijing's trade move "an even more surprising one."
The American leader accused China of trying to "hold the world captive," saying it all began with magnets and other elements that Beijing had "quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position".
"The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every element that they want to withhold from other nations... I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the leaders of the free world. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," he said.
Trump warned that depending on China's next steps, he would be forced to take countermeasures. He added that for every element China seeks to monopolize, the United States has two.
"Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the USA. One of the policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America," Trump emphasized.
Announcement of the Trump–Xi meeting
Just on October 2, US President Donald Trump said that his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could take place in about a month.
He noted that the main topic of discussion would be soybeans, since China, for trade reasons, has been refusing to buy them from American farmers.
