 Trump predicts 'very difficult' China summit US President Donald Trump has predicted an upcoming meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would be "very difficult", staking out an adversarial position ahead of the high-profile first summit between the leaders. Trump's comments Thursday appeared to herald a return to a tougher line from the president, who took a hawkish tone on the Asian giant in the weeks after his election before softening his rhetoric. "The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one," Trump tweeted, in apparent reference to a Xi visit planned for next week in Mar-a-Lago. "We can no longer have massive trade deficits... and job losses. American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives." The summit at Trump's Florida residence will be the first face-to-face meeting between the heads of the world's two most powerful nations and leading economies. It follows a rocky start to US-China relations under the billionaire politician, who has repeatedly blasted Beijing for its trade policies and reluctance to bring pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. But at a briefing in Beijing Friday, China's vice minister of foreign affairs Zheng Zeguang sidestepped questions about Trump's remarks, repeatedly emphasising that "both China and the US attach great importance to the upcoming presidential meeting." Washington and Beijing "hope for a successful meeting so that a correct direction will be set for the growth of bilateral relations", he added. The meeting, which is scheduled for April 6-7 and was confirmed by both countries Thursday, could be crucial in setting the tone of the relationship between the two powers in coming years. In a statement Thursday, the White House said that the leaders will "discuss global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual concern". Just weeks ago the summit seemed a distant possibility after Trump infuriated Beijing with suggestions he might break from the US's long-standing One China Policy, which nominally acknowledges the Asian giant's claims over Taiwan without recognizing them. In a conciliatory phone call in mid-February, the US president walked back controversial comments on Taiwan, creating an opening for Washington and Beijing to discuss a meeting. "The summit could well be a peaceful combination of a strategic kumbaya and economic gift giving, before storms erupt later over trade, regional hotspots, and human resources-issues," according to Douglas Paal, Asia Director at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. - Tough tone - But Trump's tough language on trade and increasing frustration about China's policies on North Korea might be a signal that he is already willing to throw sand in the gears. Relations have been strained by China's fierce opposition to a US missile defense system being rolled out in South Korea to protect against attacks from the North. The US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday said China can and must do more to force North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs. And, amid reports that Pyongyang is preparing another banned nuclear test, she said Washington would not settle for holding another UN debate. "I have no patience for it, and it is not helping anyone. And it's not about me. This administration has no patience for it," she said. Trump's tweet and Haley's comments appeared to be orchestrated, coming just hours after both countries publicly announced Xi's visit, which had been in the pipeline for weeks. The tough tone could be a negotiating gambit from a man who prides himself on mastering the "Art of the Deal."
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President Donald Trump will order staff Friday to pinpoint countries and goods responsible for America's nearly $50 billion trade deficit, in a protectionist warning shot to trade partners like China.
Top administration officials said Trump will issue a pair of executive orders aimed at rooting out the causes and culprits behind America's trade deficit, in a first step toward converting tough trade rhetoric into action.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said one order would result in analysts going "country by country, and product by product," reporting back to Trump within 90 days.
They will look, he said, for evidence of "cheating," inappropriate behavior, trade deals that have not lived up to their promise, lax enforcement, currency misalignment and troublesome World Trade Organization constraints.
"It will form the basis for decision making by the administration," he said.
The order comes a week before Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping and is likely to be seen as a warning shot across Beijing's bow.
"Needless to say the number one source of the deficit is China," Ross said, before listing more than a dozen other "countries that will potentially be involved."
The others listed were: Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
However, Ross said the presence of a deficit does not necessarily mean that retaliatory or remedial action would be taken.
"It's a little bit hard to say that someone is an evildoer if they are providing a product we can't," he said.
"In some cases, it will simply be that they are better at making the product or can do it far cheaper than we can.
"This is not meant to say that everybody on this little list is an evildoer."
- Trade reset -
"We've under collected 2.8 billion of these duties" said Peter Navarro, a top Trump trade advisor outlining the plan.
Under the proposals being considered US customs officials could impose more substantial bonding requirements at the border or examine products' risk.
Listing various problem areas, Navarro said: "This is a big deal. It's steel, chemicals, agricultural products, machinery -- it's the whole gambit."
Germany protested over planned US punitive anti-dumping duties on steel plate products from companies in that country and six others.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel charged the step breached global trade rules and unfairly disadvantaged suppliers in Germany, as well as in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Italy also voiced alarm, amid fears that products like Vespa scooters could be hit by punitive duties.
"Trump declares war on the Vespa" said a headline in national daily Il Messaggero, reflecting the tone of most of the media coverage on an issue that dominated front pages and topped news bulletins.
The European products are vulnerable to potential measures because of a transatlantic dispute over Europe's ban on beef produced with the aid of hormones that pre-dates Trump coming to power.
Along with mopeds, the symbolic Italian products that could have punitive duties slapped on them reportedly include tomatoes in every form, salami and Parma ham, and San Pellegrino mineral water, now owned by Switzerland's Nestle.
- 'America first' -
Ross, formerly on the board of steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal, said Thursday the foreign producers were selling their products at unfairly low prices in the US market and that US customs could therefore impose duties on the imports.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump had vowed to put America's trading relationship with the world on a more advantageous basis and put "America first."
Critics counter that although the United States runs a deficit with some countries, no nation has benefited more from current global trading arrangements than its only superpower.
In a second executive order, Trump will order the government to look at ways the United States can better recover trade duties on products that are subsidized by foreign governments or dumped on the US market.
Navarro insisted the new measures would fall within rules at the World Trade Organization, where some might see the United States erecting a technical barrier to trade.
"There is no issue here," he said. "We've been collecting these duties -- we just haven't been doing it very well. The WTO is silent on the issue of incompetence."
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