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Trump Says 100% Tariffs on China Not Sustainable, Still Plans to Meet Xi

US President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands during a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. (AFP)
US President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands during a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. (AFP)
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Trump Says 100% Tariffs on China Not Sustainable, Still Plans to Meet Xi

US President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands during a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. (AFP)
US President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands during a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump said his proposed 100% tariff on goods from China would not be sustainable, but blamed Beijing for the latest impasse in trade talks that began with Chinese authorities tightening control over rare earth exports.

Asked whether such a high tariff was sustainable and what that might do to the economy, Trump replied, "It's not sustainable, but that's what the number is."

"They forced me to do that," he said in an interview with Fox Business Network that was broadcast on Friday.

Trump unveiled additional levies of 100% on China's US-bound exports a week ago, along with new export controls on "any and all critical software" by November 1, nine days before existing tariff relief was set to expire.

The new trade actions were Trump's reaction to China dramatically expanding its export controls on rare earth elements. China dominates the market for such elements, which are essential to tech manufacturing.

Trump also confirmed he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea - a meeting the US president had cast doubt on last week - and expressed admiration for the Chinese leader.

"I think we're going to be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It's got to be fair," Trump said on FBN's "Mornings with Maria," which was taped on Thursday.

The softening in tone and affirmation of his intent to meet with Xi helped stem some of Wall Street's early losses on Friday. Major US stock indexes, which have been rattled over the last week by Trump's abrupt reimposition of steep levies on Chinese imports and by credit worries among regional banks, were up modestly in early trading.

Meanwhile, in another indication of a potential thaw in the tensions,

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will hold a call on Friday to discuss ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries, CNBC reported on Friday, without disclosing a time for the call. A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bessent earlier in the week had accused one of He's top aides of being "unhinged" in recent interactions with US trade negotiators, an assertion Beijing has refuted.

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Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of 'Reckless' Strikes on Major Gas Pipeline

File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
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Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of 'Reckless' Strikes on Major Gas Pipeline

File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)

The Kremlin accused Ukraine on Thursday of targeting a major gas pipeline in southern Russia that leads to Türkiye with "reckless" drone strikes.

Ukraine has hit Russian energy targets throughout Moscow's four-year offensive, a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

"At night, there were renewed attempts to attack the Russkaya compressor station with drones," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling the pipeline an "international facility" that "ensures energy security for Türkiye".

"These are absolutely reckless actions by the Kyiv regime," Peskov said.

Russia's defense ministry said it had downed 10 Ukrainian-launched drones in the early hours of Thursday "above the gas compressor station that supplies gas to the TurkStream pipeline".

The station lies in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, which is regularly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes.

State-owned Russian gas producer Gazprom earlier said that the Russkaya and Beregovaya stations were targeted.

It called them "critical energy infrastructure facilities ensuring the reliability of gas exports via the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines."

Russia has decimated much of Ukraine's energy infrastructure in more than four years of war.

World

First Passenger Train in Six Years Arrives in Pyongyang from China

A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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First Passenger Train in Six Years Arrives in Pyongyang from China

A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo

A passenger train that departed from the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Thursday, as rail service between the neighboring countries resumed after six years.

The train arrived at a railway station in central Pyongyang, state news agency Xinhua said, after reporters from South Korea's Yonhap reported seeing a train crossing the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge over the Yalu River.

China and ⁠North Korea are "friendly neighbours" and a cross-border passenger train service facilitates people-to-people exchanges, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Thursday.

China also backs stronger communication between both sides to ease such exchanges, the spokesperson added.

The service was suspended when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out ⁠in 2020.

North Korea is largely closed ‌to foreign tourism, with ‌few exceptions, largely for Russian tour ​groups under restricted arrangements, say ‌travel agencies organizing trips to the country.

World

NYT: US Says Iran Campaign Cost $11 Billion in Six Days

FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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NYT: US Says Iran Campaign Cost $11 Billion in Six Days

FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The opening week of the war against Iran cost the United States more than $11.3 billion, lawmakers were told in a Pentagon briefing, according to a New York Times report underscoring the pace at which the conflict is consuming weapons and resources.

The Times, citing unnamed sources familiar with Tuesday's closed-door briefing, said members of Congress were told that the figure excludes many costs connected with the buildup to the strikes -- suggesting the final tally for the first week could rise substantially.

Defense officials had previously told Congress that roughly $5.6 billion worth of munitions were expended in just the first two days of fighting, according to US media -- a burn rate far higher than earlier public estimates.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) independent think tank in Washington estimated that the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury cost $3.7 billion -- or more than $891 million per day.

Most of these costs, $3.5 billion, had not already been budgeted, the CSIS said.

The Iran War Cost Tracker website, which estimates the cost of the conflict in real time, showed a figure of more than $17 billion on its counter at around 08:00 GMT on Thursday.

According to the site, the United States is spending $1 billion per day on the war.

However, it points out the true cost of the war is likely higher, as the figures do not take into account long-term expenses such as veteran healthcare.