WASHINGTON - Donald Trump believes it is up to China, not the United States, to come to the negotiating table on trade, the White House said April 15, after the US president accused Beijing of reneging on a major Boeing deal.

“The ball is in China’s court. China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them,” said a statement from Trump read out by press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a briefing.

“There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger,” she added.

Ms Leavitt’s comments came after Mr Trump accused China of going back on a major deal with US aviation giant Boeing – following a Bloomberg news report that Beijing ordered airlines not to take further deliveries of the company’s jets.

The report also said that Beijing requested Chinese carriers to pause purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US firms.

“They just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft,” said Mr Trump in a Truth Social post, referring to China.

He did not provide further details on the Boeing agreement he was referring to.

Mr Trump has slapped new tariffs on friend and foe since returning to the presidency this year, but has reserved his heaviest blows for China – imposing additional 145 per cent levies on many Chinese imports.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told German weekly Die Zeit that the relationship between the EU and the United States was “complicated,” after Mr Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on the bloc.

Asked about potential negotiations, Dr von der Leyen said Europeans were “setting out our position clearly, and the Americans are doing the same.”

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