Trump loses patience with China and threatens Eastern giant
DONALD Trump is losing his patience with China over its inaction on North Korea and is considering
trade action against Beijing, three senior administration officials revealed.
The White House has repeatedly requested that China exert more economic and diplomatic pressure
on Kim Jong-un's regime and the US President is thought to be looking at a range of options,
including tariffs on steel imports from Beijing.
One US official said: "What's guiding this is he ran to protect American industry and
American workers."
Regarding North Korea, the same official said Mr Trump "feels like he gave China a chance
to make a difference" but has not seen any results.
Beijing may be getting the message as reports suggest the China National Petroleum Corp
has suspended sales of fuel to North Korea.
It is unclear how long the suspension will last and critics claim they have only taken
action because they are concerned the hermit kingdom will not pay, not because of US requests.
Fuel prices in North Korea have sharply risen in recent months, up almost 50 per cent from
April 21.
Industry sources say China supplies North Korea with about 520,000 tonnes of crude oil,
worth £132million, each year.
President Trump's national security team has worked to persuade China to increase pressure
on the rogue regime, following a number of nuclear weapons program tests and provocative
statements by dictator Kim Jong-un.
They have enjoyed limited success, however, as China has a lengthy history of providing
economic lifelines to the secretive regime.
Donald Trump previously tweeted: "While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President
Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out.
At least I know China tried!"
The US State Department placed China on its list of worst offenders in human trafficking
and forced labour in a move that could aggravate tensions with Beijing.
Rex Tillerson said: "China was downgraded to Tier 3 status in this year's report in
part because it has not taken serious steps to end its own complicity in trafficking,
including forced labourers from North Korea that are located in China."
The Nikkei Asian Review, a business journal based in Japan, said: "Since January, China's
imports of iron ore from North Korea have quadrupled from year-earlier levels despite
a ban on such imports, in principle.
"Since it was slapped with a strict embargo on coal exports late last year, North Korea
has apparently increased its iron ore exports to make up for the loss of foreign currency."
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