Trump, China Upbeat on Trade Detente

President Donald Trump sounded more positive about the possibilities of ending the trade war with China after his morning tweets on Dec. 4 may have fueled a stock market sell-off. Trump, who had boasted about tariffs making America rich (see 1812040015), tweeted later that night: "Ultimately, I believe, we will be making a deal -- either now or into the future.... China does not want Tariffs!"

The Trump administration had emphasized that China has 90 days to make progress on trade irritants, but China had not mentioned that deadline until Dec. 5, when a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman called 90 days "a clear timetable," according to an informal translation of a ministry press release about a news conference. The spokesman also said, "China will start from implementing specific issues that have reached consensus, and the sooner the better."

On Twitter, Trump also quoted a Bloomberg story that said that China is preparing to buy soybeans and liquefied natural gas.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., mocked the president on Twitter, saying, "So the 'win' is that the Chinese start buying the stuff they stopped buying, after our consumers got gouged for a year, and there’s still no new agreement w[ith] China? Am I getting that right?"

Trump continued to tweet about China and trade on Dec. 5, when he said that if China uses the death penalty for fentanyl distributors, "the results will be incredible!" Fentanyl has played a role in the spike in opioid deaths, as it is far more powerful than heroin, and many drug users don't know it's in what they're injecting.

He also tweeted, "Not to sound naive or anything, but I believe President Xi meant every word of what he said at our long and hopefully historic meeting. ALL subjects discussed!"