WASHINGTON — President Trump said Wednesday that he’s not concerned about the impact of the continuing trade war with China on American consumers, musing during a cabinet meeting that “maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30.”

Trump made the remark in response to a journalist who asked when he plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“It will happen,” Trump said. “I told you before, they’re having tremendous difficulty because their factories are not doing business. They made a trillion dollars with Biden … selling this stuff. Much of it we don’t need.

“You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be empty’. Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” the president added.

“But we’re not talking about something that we have to go out of our way — they have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which — not all of it, but much of which we don’t need. And we have to make a fair deal.”

The president concluded: “We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world, but China, I would say, is the leading one, the leading candidate for the chief ripper-offer.”

Trump has imposed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese goods since taking office in January, when the average rate was about 21%.

The massive levies — and Beijing’s public insistence it won’t be “blackmailed” into trade reforms — have stoked speculation that there will be a temporary reduction in rates as a good-will gesture to spur engagement.

The global logistics company Flexport has tracked a plunge in shipping from China to the US following the tariffs — with the current cancellation rate for the trans-Pacific voyage around 50%. 

Asset-management firm Apollo Global Management issued a report this week forecasting a recession this summer coupled with empty store shelves and layoffs by trucking companies and major retail chains.

China is one of America’s top three trading partners, along with Canada and Mexico.

The US imported $438.9 billion worth of goods from China last year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. China imported $143.5 billion from the US in the same period of time.

Trump previously has spoken dismissively about the need to import goods from countries which he has tariffed, repeatedly saying the US has no need for Canadian lumber, energy products, or cars made in factories north of the border.

The president’s wide-ranging trade offensive has seen him slap a 25% tariff on foreign-made cars, a no-exceptions 25% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on non-USMCA-compliant goods from Canada and Mexico.

He also announced on April 2 a new 10% baseline tariff for most imports — roughly triple the prior average rate — though he paused even steeper “reciprocal” tariffs against most nations, with the exception of China, through early July to allow for trade talks.

The Trump administration currently is engaged in trade negotiations with about 15 top economic partners — with officials saying deals are close with several countries, including India, Japan and South Korea.

Trump said Wednesday that he’s not letting up on unfurling tariffs and that new fees on pharmaceutical drugs would be coming.

“We’re gonna be getting tremendous amounts of drug and pharmaceutical companies that are going to be pouring into the country. They’re going to have to,” Trump said.

“We’re going to give them a lot of time to do it, but after that, it’s going to be a tariff wall put up, and they won’t be happy about it, but they’ll be happy if they start building right now.”