- But after comment to reporters, White House says he was talking about whether he should have raised tariffs on Chinese goods even more
- Trump also says at G7 summit in Biarritz that he has ‘no plans right now’ to invoke act to force American businesses to leave China
US President Donald Trump appeared to tone down his trade war rhetoric on Sunday, admitting to "second thoughts" after threatening a blanket ban on American companies operating in China.
Asked at the Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France whether he was having second thoughts about his aggressive stance on China, Trump said: "Yeah, sure, why not?"
"I have second thoughts about everything," he added.
But his remarks were later clarified in a White House statement, which said Trump's "second thoughts" were about whether he should have increased the duties on Chinese goods even more.
"His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President Trump responded in the affirmative " because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher," spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters ahead of a breakfast meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trump said he had "no plans right now" to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to force businesses to leave China as punishment for the country's trade practices.
The law, which he hinted in a tweet could be used to order American businesses out of China, is not usually used to regulate international trade. It has traditionally been used to impose sanctions on countries seen as posing national security threats.
Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said Trump appeared to be trying to reassure his supporters and American consumers with his remarks in Biarritz.
He added that US consumers were likely to bear the brunt of the latest round of US tariffs on Chinese imports.
"He seems to be getting exasperated after many of his plans have fallen through," Wang said. "In contrast, China appears to be getting more confident and morale is improving as the battle goes on."
EU leaders round on Trump over trade as tense G7 summit gets under way
Washington broke a truce agreed in June between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping by imposing a 10 per cent tariff on a further US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports late last month.
Beijing hit back with retaliatory tariffs on US$75 billion worth of American products on Friday, and hours later Trump said he would increase duties on Chinese imports.
While the trade war between Washington and Beijing is intensifying, Trump appeared optimistic about the prospects of a trade deal with London after his first face-to-face meeting with Johnson.
Calling Johnson "the right man" to deliver Brexit, Trump offered Britain a "very big trade deal, bigger than we've ever had".
A day before the meeting, Johnson said he would tell Trump to pull back from the US-China trade war, adding that one of his priorities for the summit was "clearly the state of global trade. I am very worried about the way it's going, the growth of protectionism, of tariffs that we're seeing".
He said Britain was "at risk of being implicated in this". "Apart from everything else, those who support the tariffs are at risk of incurring the blame for the downturn in the global economy, irrespective of whether or not that is true," he added.
There was no mention of whether Trump and Johnson discussed Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecoms giant that the US has banned and wants other countries, like Britain, to also ban.
Meanwhile, in a possible sign of US discontent over China's growing influence in Europe, Trump will reportedly not be holding talks with outgoing Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who in March led Italy to become the first G7 nation to join China's Belt and Road Initiative.
According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, Trump will meet all the other G7 leaders at the gathering except for Conte, who is expected to resign this week.
The US earlier accused Italy of getting too close to China after it signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing on its controversial investment and infrastructure scheme.
The White House did not announce any plan for Trump to meet the Italian leader during the gathering in Biarritz, which ends on Monday.
Additional reporting by Frank Tang
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