Trump changes tone on China trade war

On Friday, China and the United States announced new retaliatory tariffs, while President Donald Trump tweeted that U.S. companies “are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” But on Monday at the G-7 summit in France, the president said the two nations were going to start talking seriously about a compromise. Trade negotiators are scheduled to meet next month in Washington.

What has changed? Trump said his trade negotiators had received two “very good calls” from China on Sunday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry replied it didn’t know what he was talking about. The president also clarified his tweet was a threat to use the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act against China, but he would have to declare a national emergency in the trade war first.

Dig deeper: From earlier this year, read Anne K. Walters’ report in The Stew on the downsides of using tariffs as a negotiating tactic.