The White House has insisted Donald Trump remains committed to the trade war with Beijing after the US president admitted that raising tariffs on Chinese goods had given him “second thoughts”.
The White House issued a statement on Sunday morning saying Mr Trump’s only regret was not raising levies higher, after the president appeared to cast doubt on his own policy during the G7 summit in the French coastal resort of Biarritz.
The apparent confusion added to jitters over the state of the global economy as the gathering of leading economies hosted by France’s president Emmanuel Macron held talks on Sunday on averting a global slowdown. The three-day meeting also brings together Germany, Japan, the UK, Italy, Canada and Donald Tusk, president of the European Council of EU leaders.