Trump says US will not make a trade deal with China

US president Donald Trump said that, while talks are progressing with Beijing, no deal has been reached for now, as the two countries attempt to resolve an ongoing trade dispute.

The president told reporters on Friday that he would like to see more movement in the trade talks, but that Washington was not ready to finalize an agreement.

“China wants to do something on trade, but I’m not ready to do anything yet,” President Trump said, adding that the American taxpayer is “not paying for” the tariffs currently imposed on trade with the country. 

President Trump also noted that for now, “the US is not going to do business with Huawei,” the Chinese telecommunications firm, but said that could change in the event a deal is reached.

Washington and Beijing have been embroiled in a trade war in recent months, with American tariffs now applied to $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, while the president has threatened additional penalties on another $325 billion in trade. Beijing has responded with its own tariffs on American goods to the tune of $110 billion, and has also vowed to step up the measures.

The US has also tangled with Chinese tech giant Huawei, which was added to a US trade blacklist in May over concerns of intellectual property theft and spying. The Trump administration is currently withholding trade licenses for US firms that wish to do business with Huawei.

Stocks traded lower on Friday amid fears of a renewed US-China trade conflict after the Trump announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened over 200 points lower. The S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both losing over 1 percent during early trading on Wall Street.

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