'Absolutely No Need to Rush': As Trump Slow Walks China Trade Talks, Who Will Blink First

The world's two largest economies are now in a trade war. The United States and China are showing few signs of backing down.

Negotiators from both sides met at the White House Thursday but failed to reach an agreement. There are plans to continue working towards a deal today. 

But for now, new tariffs are kicking in on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods. Trump announced the hike in import taxes, raising them from 10% to 25% on Friday, saying China backed out of its commitment to end the trade war. 

And President Trump is playing it cool, tweeting that there is "absolutely no need to rush," on trade talks with China.

Talks with China continue in a very congenial manner - there is absolutely no need to rush - as Tariffs are NOW being paid to the United States by China of 25% on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods & products. These massive payments go directly to the Treasury of the U.S....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019

The president sees the conflict as a win-win. "I'm different than a lot of people. I happen to think that tariffs, for our country, are very powerful," Trump said. 

The Chinese government threatened to retaliate, quickly releasing this statement: "China deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures."

Chinese leaders did not specify what those measures might be, but each side is trying to gain the upper hand in the negotiations, using whatever tools they can to get the other side to blink first.

There are concerns that China's retaliatory tariffs hurt US farmers, so the Trump administration is looking for ways to soften the blow. Vice President Mike Pence told Minnesota farmers this week that the administration will find ways to help farmers caught up in the trade dispute.

And Trump suggested on Twitter the government could help farmers by using tariff money to buy more US farm goods for shipment to "poor & starving" countries.

....agricultural products from our Great Farmers, in larger amounts than China ever did, and ship it to poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance. In the meantime we will continue to negotiate with China in the hopes that they do not again try to redo deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019