President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in 2019. (File Photo: AP)

US President Donald Trump said Friday that his proposed 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods was not meant to be permanent, describing it as an extreme measure meant to pressure Beijing ahead of an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is,” Trump told Fox Business Network. “They forced me to do that.”

Trump also added that he would meet Xi in two weeks and expressed optimism about the talks, adding that he believed “things will be fine with China.”

On October 10, Trump announced the imposition of a 100 per cent tariff on China, effective from November 1.

“Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position

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