Trump in Beijing talks US-China trade deficit

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a welcoming ceremony November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China.

The president said the current relationship between the two countries is a “very one-sided and unfair one.”

“But, but, I don’t blame China,” Trump added to scattered applause in the room. “After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.”

Instead, Trump laid the blame on “past administrations for allowing this out-of-control trade deficit to take place and to grow.”

Trump is seeking to close that gap, he said, because “it just doesn’t work for our great American companies and it doesn’t work for our great American workers.”

“It is just not sustainable,” he added.

The U.S. leader’s commentary was not a surprise — he has frequently identified the trade imbalance as a problem he wants to solve — but his tone (on a stage shared with Chinese President Xi Jinping) will be closely analyzed.

“His opening comments may be taken as slightly hostile or some taunting,” said Gavin Parry, managing director at Parry International Trading, after listening to Trump’s address. “Particularly when he mentioned the [intellectual property] aspect of cross-border loss for the U.S. side.”

For his part, Xi said Thursday that China will be more open and transparent to foreign companies, including those from the United States.

U.S. companies are also welcome to take part in China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, Xi told a briefing in Beijing after talks with Trump. China’s door to the world will only open wider, he said.

—Reuters contributed to this report.