China not stepping up to the level I want, says Trump on trade talks

As trade talks between China and the US continued to threaten world markets, US President said on Wednesday that China wasn't "stepping up" to the level he wanted.

"I can tell you this. China would much rather make a trade deal than I would," Trump told reporters, adding, "I don't think they're stepping up to the level that I want."

Wall Street stocks fell on Wednesday as hopes faded of phase one deal with China. On the second straight day of losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and broader S&P 500 both fell 0.4 per cent to end the day at 27,821.09 and 3,108.37, respectively.

The Nasdaq fell 0.5 per cent, to close at 8,526.73.

Trump's comments came amid a looming deadline with the US set to add tariffs on another $160 billion in Chinese goods next month.

On Thursday, Tokyo stocks opened lower over concerns of China-US trade talks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.24 per cent or 55.70 points at 23,092.87 in early trade.

The US president who visited the Apple factory with CEO Tim Cook said he was considering whether to exempt Apple from tariffs on imports from China.

"The problem we have is you have Samsung. It's a great company but it's a competitor of Apple, and it's not fair if, because we have a trade deal with Korea - we made a great trade deal with South Korea - but we have to treat Apple on a somewhat similar basis as we treat Samsung," Trump said.