President Trump To Talk To President Xi After Raising Tariffs

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, a White House spokesman said, who will prepare a massive diplomatic exchange as the world's two largest economic powers seek deals that could prevent a broader trade war.

The phone call talks will be Trump and Xi's first known talks since Trump took office on January 20. They previously spoke before Trump's inauguration.

"That will happen in the next few days," White House press secretary Krypte Leavitt said of the latest phone call plans.

Last weekend, President Trump ordered a massive imposition of tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China, as part of their demands to stop the flow of illegal fentanyls, the main cause of drug overdose in the United States.

On Monday, the Republican president threatened to increase the rate in China. He imposed a 10 percent import duty on all of their goods on Saturday which will take effect on Tuesday.

The tariff did not fulfill President Trump's campaign promise to impose a 60 percent higher import duty on Chinese goods. On Monday, he described the early stages as "opener attacks."

Yesterday, President Trump withdrew his threats to impose high rates on Mexico and Canada, but US rates on China will still take effect in a few hours.

The US says China is the main source of precursor chemicals synthesized into fentanyl by drug cartels in Mexico.

China itself said it had taken significant steps to crack down on the chemicals and touted measures to reduce the illegal drug trade.

"Hopefully China will stop sending us fentanyls, and if not, import duties will rise much higher," said President Trump.

"Childongkok will be handled," he added.

China, which has long called import duties a counterproductive measure, provides relatively unclear criticism of the import duty and hints at openness to negotiate.

The country's government appears ready to seek an agreement with President Trump that could delay or stop import duties, according to someone familiar with the matter.