Trump believes China will make trade deal, but tariffs ready

[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said on Monday additional tariffs on Chinese goods were ready to kick in after the G20 summit this month if no trade deal is reached with China and criticised Federal Reserve policies as "destructive" for the United States.

In a wide-ranging interviw with CNBC, Mr Trump also said disputes over Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies could be addressed as part of any US trade deal with China.

Mr Trump said if Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 meeting, tariffs would go into effect immediately. Mr Trump has repeatedly said he is getting ready to meet Mr Xi at the Osaka summit at the end of June, but China has not confirmed it.

China's foreign ministry said on Monday that China is open for more trade talks with Washington but has nothing to announce about a possible meeting.

"If we don't make a deal, you'll see a tariff increase," Mr Trump said.

The American president again criticised China for devaluing its currency to create an unfair advantage in trade that he said was exacerbated by policies of the US Federal Reserve.

"They devalue their currency - they have for years. It's put them at a tremendous competitive advantage and we don't have that advantage because we have a Fed that doesn't lower interest rates," Mr Trump told CNBC, adding "our FED is very, very destructive to us."

REUTERS