Last year, the United States had a $375.2 billion trade deficit with China, and Washington reportedly had demanded the deficit be slashed by at least $200 billion by 2020. "There was a consensus on taking effective measures to substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China," Saturday's joint statement said. It added that "China will significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services." "The United States and China risk entering an agreement at the expense of Europe if Europe is not capable of showing a firm hand," he told CNEWS television. "The United States wants to make Europe and European countries pay for China's bad behavior," Le Maire said.

Source: Bangkok Post May 20, 2018 23:37 UTC