Amid tariff war, Donald Trump pushes for 'fair' trade deal with China

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States was in talks with several countries, including China, about trade deals. He said the main goal with China was to reach a deal that is fair.Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump mentioned he did not plan to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, news agency Reuters reported. However, he confirmed that US officials were engaged in talks with their Chinese counterparts on a range of matters. When asked if any trade agreements would be announced this week, Trump said it could "very well be," but did not give any details."We’re negotiating with many countries, but at the end of this, I’ll set my own deals — because I set the deal, they don’t set the deal," Trump said aboard Air Force One, as per a report by Bloomberg. "You keep asking the same question: ‘When will you agree?’ It’s up to me, it’s not up to them."Since April 2, when Trump introduced a 10 per cent tariff on most countries and higher tariffs on others — which were temporarily paused for 90 days — his administration has been actively meeting with trading partners. He also imposed 25 per cent tariffs on items like autos, steel, and aluminum, along with similar rates for Canada and Mexico, and a 145 per cent tariff on China. Trump said he did not expect to reach a deal with some countries and might instead set a specific tariff for them in the next two to three weeks, the Reuters report said. "At a certain point, I’ll be just setting a certain tariff number," Trump said Sunday. "At some point in the next two weeks or three weeks, I’m going to be setting the deal."It was unclear if he was referring to the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2, which are expected to begin on July 8 after the 90-day pause. Trump repeated his view that China had taken advantage of the US for many years in trade. He said former President Richard Nixon's decision to open relations with China was "the worst thing" he ever did. In a separate interview with NBC News, Trump had said he had been "very tough with China" and had basically stopped trade between the two countries. He added that China now wanted an agreement. "We've gone cold turkey," he said. "That means we're not losing a trillion dollars ... because we're not doing business with them right now. And they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal very badly. We'll see how that all turns out, but it's got to be a fair deal."