Washington

"I'm ready to go 500," the Republican leader told the US network CNBC, referring to the USD 505.5 billion in Chinese imports accepted into the US in 2017.

"I'm not doing this for politics, I'm doing this to do the right thing for our country," Trump said.

"We've been ripped off by China for a long time," he added. After weeks of apparently fruitless negotiations, the US early this month imposed 25 per cent tariffs on approximately USD 34 billion of Chinese mechanical and technological products -- sparking an immediate response from Beijing, which said it would hit back dollar for dollar.

China accused the US of starting the "largest trade war in economic history." A second tranche of USD 16 billion in products is under review and could soon be added to the US measures.

In the full interview released Friday Trump reiterated his claim that the US is "being taken advantage of" on issues including trade policy.

"I don't want them to be scared. I want them to do well," the US president said of China. "I really like President Xi a lot. But it was very unfair." The US-China spat is the largest and broadest of several trade fights picked by Trump.

The growing share of international trade under threat has raised the prospect the escalating trade war could harm the global economy by disrupting companies supply chains, pushing firms to hold off on investments and making goods more expensive for consumers.

In excerpts of the interview released on Thursday Trump had broken with the long-established executive branch practice of not commenting on the Federal Reserve's decisions out of respect for its independence.

"I'm not thrilled," Trump told the network in an interview excerpt aired Thursday. "Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again."

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