Monthly surveys of Chinese factory managers shows export orders slowed in April as higher tariffs on U.S. imports began to kick in.

"You don't know whether or not China's going to eat it," Trump said of the potential for tariffs on Chinese goods to increase consumer prices.

China's factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in 16 months in April, a factory survey showed on Wednesday, keeping alive calls for further stimulus as Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" package of tariffs snapped two months of recovery.