President Trump: US 'winning big' on trade war with China

President Donald Trump said that the U.S. was "winning big" in its ongoing trade dispute with China.

What did Trump say?

"We're not playing on a fair field," Trump said Sunday at a news conference. "The Fed has not been of any help to us at all. And despite that, we're winning and we're winning big, because we have created an economy that is second to none. Greatest in the world."

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the G-20 summit on Friday and Saturday in Osaka, Japan.

Before the summit, Xi reportedly came up with a set of terms that the U.S. would have to meet before tariffs could be lifted. Neither Trump nor Xi has so far revealed if a trade deal has been reached or what this might look like. Trump has promised to hold off additional tariffs on China for now.

What's the background?

In March 2018, Trump announced that the U.S. would be imposing steep tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. In response, China announced that it would be placing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods imported to China. The U.S. responded with more tariffs on China and China responded with additional tariffs of its own. This back and forth has continued since then, with Trump threatening to place tariffs on every last product imported from China.

The G-20 summit is a meeting of representatives from the largest economies in the world. Between them, these nations represent roughly 86 percent of the global economy.

These tariffs have had a negative impact on U.S. farmers, who have had to receive billions of dollars in bailouts from the federal government to offset a decrease in sales to foreign countries and an increase in the cost of equipment.

What did Trump mean about the Fed?

Trump has repeatedly criticized the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates.

The Federal Reserve periodically raises interest rates during periods of economic growth to prevent inflation from getting out of control. As the economy has improved over the last few years, the Fed has hiked interest rates on several occasions.

The Fed strives to maintain its independence, so regardless of whether or not Trump believes rates should be lowered, it is up to the Fed to decide what adjustments need to be made.