US President Donald Trump is willing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as trade tensions escalate between the two countries, CNN reports.

“Oh sure, he’s a friend of mine. I like him,” Trump said Wednesday when asked by a reporter if he would consider talking or meeting with the Chinese leader.

“Sure, I’d meet with him,” he said.

The US president said during another White House event Wednesday that he believed “China wants to make a deal.”

Trump announced earlier he was raising tariff rates on China to 125% after Beijing imposed additional retaliatory tariffs on US goods.