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Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping “called” him, despite the denial of Beijing that talks to facilitate trade tensions between the two biggest economies in the world had started.
The American president also said that he had sealed “200 transactions” on trade, even if no pact of this type has been announced.
“You must understand that I have faced with all companies, very friendly countries. We meet China. We are going well with everyone. But in the end, I have concluded all the offers,” said Trump in a interview With Time Magazine published on Friday.
Trump said about the Chinese president: “His name is. And I don’t think it’s a sign of weakness in his name.”
However, several people familiar with the situation in Washington and Beijing said that Xi had not called Trump. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not comment.
In his interview in time, the American president also insisted that “100%” that he had concluded 200 trade agreements with countries around the world, even if none has been announced. But he also suggested that they could be released next month. “In the following three to four weeks … We finished, by the way,” he said.
Friday morning, when he left Washington for Rome to attend Pope Francis funeral, Trump was invited to clarify if he had spoken to Xi since the United States imposed deadly prices of up to 145% on Chinese imports, triggering a trade war that rocked the financial markets.
“I don’t want to comment on this, but I told him several times,” said Trump.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has made several claims on contacts between the United States and China which were then questioned.
Trump said last month that Xi planned to visit the United States and “came in the future not too far away.” But people familiar with the case said there had been no conversations between Washington and Beijing about a summit.
On several occasions, Trump has also referred to commercial talks between countries, even if they did not take place, according to people from Washington and Beijing.
“China and the United States have no consultation or negotiations on #Tariffs. The United States should stop creating confusion,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry published on Friday.
Chinese officials also stressed that any commercial negotiation in the future should be held at the work level and that the two countries should reach a sort of provisional agreement before Beijing would accept to set up a telephone call or a meeting with XI.
When he was asked what Xi had told him in the conversation that claims that Trump had happened, the American president has referred to the power he had as a goalkeeper for the American consumer market. “It is a giant and beautiful store, and everyone wants to shop there. And on behalf of the American people, I have the store, and I put prices, and I will say that if you want to shop here, that’s what you have to pay,” said Trump Time.
