Trump: "I like Xi Jinping but he is an extremely difficult counterpart for negotiations"

Trump shares his thoughts on his own SNS, Truth Social

Donald Trump, President of the United States, who is currently conducting trade negotiations with China, remarked on the 4th (local time) regarding Xi Jinping, the President of China, that he is a "very tough and extremely difficult person to negotiate with."

On this day, President Trump wrote on his own social networking service (SNS), Truth Social, "I like President Xi of China, have always liked him, and always will. But he is very tough, and extremely difficult to negotiate with."

This post, uploaded around 2 a.m. local time, is interpreted as reflecting President Trump's frustration in trade negotiations with China.

Previously, on the 2nd, the White House had stated that there was a high possibility of a phone call taking place soon between President Trump and President Xi Jinping.

If the call happens, it appears that the two leaders will discuss all major trade issues, including remaining differences of opinion regarding the US-China trade agreement signed last month in Geneva.

President Trump stated on the 30th of last month that China violated the Geneva agreement and mentioned that he planned to discuss this issue directly with President Xi.

The United States and China, in meetings held in Geneva on the 10th and 11th of last month, agreed to a "tariff war truce," drastically reducing the over 100% tariffs they had been imposing on each other for 90 days.

However, after the agreement, the US claims that China violated it by failing to lift restrictions on the export of key minerals and rare earths, even though it promised to ease non-tariff measures.

Meanwhile, China denies any violations, insisting that the US is taking discriminatory actions such as canceling visas for Chinese students.

Jihee Yoo, Hankyung.com reporter keephee@hankyung.com