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President Donald Trump on Friday said he’s having “a very hard time with China” and hasn’t decided how to handle the international trade relationship, following a call between top trade representatives of the two nations.
Trump spoke in a Fox News interview, after U.S. and Chinese trade officials discussed their phase-one trade deal Thursday night.
Read:U.S. and China trade negotiators agree to lay groundwork to implement trade deal.
Trump has threatened sanctions against China over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, but made no such threat in the interview Friday.
The president earlier this week said he would “report on” the fulfillment of the phase-one trade deal at the end of next week. “Hopefully, they’re going to keep the deal. We’ll see. They may, they may not. We’re going to find out,” Trump said during comments in the Oval Office with the governor of Iowa on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also left the door open for more talks with Beijing, but said Trump could halt them if negotiations don’t satisfy the U.S.
Now read:Pompeo opens door for more China trade talks as Trump plans phase-one report.
JOB LOSSES ‘NO SURPRISE’
Trump spoke on “Fox & Friends” for nearly an hour, during which the government reported the U.S. unemployment rate hit a post-World War Two high of 14.7%.
He called the 20.5 million jobs lost in April “no surprise” and said it was fully expected. The president has predicted that the U.S. economy will “transition” in the third quarter and rebound afterwards. “Those jobs will all be back,” he told the Fox hosts.
See:Coronavirus costs the U.S. 20.5 million jobs in April as unemployment soars to 14.7%.
U.S. stocks DJIA, +1.40% COMP, +0.92% SPX, +1.17% opened solidly higher on Friday, even after the jobs report showed devastating losses.
