President Donald Trump on Thursday doubted whether trade talks this week with China in Washington would be successful because "China's become very spoiled."
"The European Union has become very spoiled," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office before beginning talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "Other countries have become very spoiled.
"They always got 100 percent of whatever they wanted from the United States.
"But we can't allow that to happen anymore," the president said.
The U.S. and Beijing began a second round of talks Thursday to try to avert a damaging tariff war, with the Trump administration demanding a $200 billion reduction in China's U.S. trade surplus and greater protections for intellectual property.
President Trump has threatened to impose up to $150 billion in punitive tariffs to combat what he says is China's misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies.
Beijing has threatened equal retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans, and autos.
At talks in Beijing two weeks ago, both sides presented lengthy lists of demands, agreeing only to keep talking.
China has $375 billion trade surplus with the U.S.
In addition, China has demanded that Trump relax crushing restrictions imposed on Beijing telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp.
The president told reporters Thursday that he would "look into" Chinese President Xi Jinping's concerns about ZTE — and any action would be part of a larger trade deal.
"He asked me look at ZTE," Trump said. "Don't forget, it was my administration, with my full knowledge, that put very, very strong clamps on ZTE.
"They did very bad things to our country," he said. "They did very bad things to our economy.
"Anything we do with ZTE is only a small component of a deal.
"We're going to come out fine with China," Trump then said. "Hopefully, China will be happy.
"I think we will be happy."
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