China’s State Council of Information yesterday released a white paper stating that the US government ‘should bear the sole and entire responsibility’ for the breakdown of trade talks between the globes two largest economies. It also hit back at Trump’s allegations that China has backtracked on promises that it had made in earlier negotiations. The paper states that as with all negotiations, it is common practice to make adjustments and add proposals during the course of the talks, as the US has done, however, China believes ‘The more the US government is offered, the more it wants’. Nevertheless, Beijing does remain ‘committed to credible consultations based on equality and mutual benefit’ but would ‘not give ground on matters of principle’.
The paper comes after China raised retaliatory tariffs on USD60bn of imported US goods. The tariffs range from 25% to 5% on over 5,000 goods including mechanical parts, lasers and control valves as well as skincare products.
Here in the UK we also welcome the leader of the free world for an official 3-day state visit. True to form, Trump has already given his views on who should be the next Prime Minister and who should be negotiating a Brexit deal on the UK’s behalf. Trump believes the current favourite Boris Johnson would be an "excellent" choice for the Tory leadership, whilst letting on other leadership hopefuls have also begged for his backing. He believes Johnson is a ‘very good guy, a very talented person’. As for who he thinks the UK should send to Brussels to negotiate, well, of course, that would be Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit party. In an interview with The Times, Trump says the UK should pursue a no-deal Brexit if the EU refuses to give Britain what it wants, including refusing to pay the GBP39bn divorce bill and ‘walk away’ if Brussels does not bow to Britain's demands.