Received a 'beautiful letter' from Xi, says Trump amid trade tensions

Donald Trump

Washington DC: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he received a "beautiful letter" from his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, adding that he would speak to him amid trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

"We were getting very close to a deal and then they started renegotiating the deal. It was their idea to come back. He just wrote me a beautiful letter. I just received it. I'll probably speak to him by phone," Trump was quoted by USAToday as saying while speaking to reporters at the White House.

Meanwhile, officials from China and the US are participating in the 11th round of high-level economic and trade consultations in a bid to chalk out a deal to stop the trade war between the two countries.

Despite the negotiations, Trump, at times, has threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese products. But, he has backed down his warning amid signs of progress towards finalising a new trade agreement.

However, Trump on Wednesday had alleged that China "broke the deal," escalating the threat of slapping a new round of tariffs on Beijing.

"You see the tariffs we're doing? Because they broke the deal! The (Chinese) Vice Premier (Liu He) is flying in tomorrow, good man, but they broke the deal. They can't do that...If we don't make the deal, nothing wrong with taking in over 100 billion a year. We never did that before," Trump had said during a rally.

In response, China threatened to take "necessary countermeasures" if the US increases tariffs on Chinese goods worth USD 200 billion from 10 per cent to 25 per cent from May 10, according to an official statement.

"China deeply regrets this, and will be forced to take necessary countermeasures if the US side puts the tariff measures into effect," Chinese state media quoted an official statement as saying. They further said that escalating trade frictions are against the interests of "the two peoples as well as people of the world."

Both the US and China are trying to negotiate a way out of the trade dispute which is ongoing since last year.

Trump met Xi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina in December, where both the leaders agreed to hold talks and work towards a trade deal to end the tensions between the two nations.

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