US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the UK doing business with China is very dangerous and "it's even more dangerous for Canada to get into business with China."
Trump said it in response to a reporter’s question on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s trip this week that’s signaled a thaw in UK-China ties.
Speaking in Washington at the premiere of a documentary film about First Lady Melania Trump, Trump said, “Canada is not doing well. They’re doing very poorly, and you can’t look at China as the answer.”
The US President, however, called China's President Xi Jinping a 'friend' but said, “it's a big hurdle to go over when you get Canada.”
Starmer in China
Trump’s critique came hours after Starmer met with President Xi Jinping and made progress in securing greater access to Chinese markets for British companies.
In Beijing, Starmer told business leaders he had “very warm” meetings with Xi that provided the hope for “level of engagement,” Reuters reported.
"We warmly engaged and made some real progress, actually, because the UK has got a huge amount to offer," Starmer was quoted as saying.
Starmer hailed agreements on visa-free travel and lowering whisky tariffs as “really important access, symbolic of what we’re doing with the relationship.”
"That is the way that we build the mutual trust and respect that is so important," Starmer told the event attended by British and Chinese businesspeople.
Starmer’s visit follows that of Canadian leader Mark Carney, who rolled back tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles previously imposed to match US levies.
That move triggered pushback from Trump, who threatened 100% tariffs on Canadian goods if the country becomes a “back door” for Chinese products.
