Donald Trump said he may spare Apple from new US tariffs on Chinese goods if tensions escalate next month, as he accused Beijing of failing to make enough concessions to merit a deal to pause the trade war.
On a day when US politics were dominated by the impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill, the president flew to Austin, Texas, with his daughter Ivanka and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, to visit an Apple manufacturing plant with Tim Cook, chief executive of the technology company.
Mr Trump was asked about the state of trade negotiations with China, which were supposed to yield what the he has described as a “phase one” agreement by the middle of November. But talks have dragged on amid more disagreements between Washington and Beijing.