'China Will be Hurt Very Badly if You Don't Make a Deal': Trump tells Xi Jinping

Washington: Amidst reports that some 200 American firms are in talks of moving their units from China to India, US President Donald Trump on Monday warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that China "will be hurt very badly if you don't make a deal."

"I say openly to President Xi & all of my many friends in China that China will be hurt very badly if you don't make a deal because companies will be forced to leave China for other countries," Trump tweeted.

"Too expensive to buy in China. You had a great deal, almost completed, & you backed out!" Trump said ramping up his remarks against Beijing after the collapse of trade negotiations with China.

Officials of the Trump Administration say that China backed out of a trade deal that they had negotiated over past several months involving top officials from the two countries.

Last November, Trump and Xi had agreed to negotiate a trade deal in 100 days. As a result, Trump paused his decision to increase import tariffs of Chinese products. The negotiation period was extended after March.

According to US officials, the two countries were ready with the draft of the final deal that they had negotiated. But early this month China came out with proposals for major changes.

US now accuses China of going back on its commitment. In retaliation, Trump increased import tariff (from 10 per cent to 25 per cent) on nearly USD 200 billion of Chinese products. He has also ordered for similar import tariffs on the rest of the Chinese imports of about USD 300 billion.

According to US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), more than 200 American companies are currently in talks with it for moving their business from China to India.

"We have roughly, almost 200 (US) companies talking to us about how to set up an alternative to China by investing in India," Mukesh Aghi, president & CEO of USISPF, told PTI last month.

"What they're saying is we want a backup strategy to start manufacturing in India. There are small-small issues, which can slow them down. And at the moment most of them are waiting for elections to be over. But there's a large deluge of companies keen to not only manufacture in India but also who want to go after the domestic market," Aghi said.