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Former president Donald Trump on Monday said the United States would accept 600,000 Chinese students for college education, opening the door to more student visas even as his administration ratcheted up tensions with China in a months-long trade fight.

The president, speaking at the White House, said he had directed the State Department to issue student visas even as his administration has slapped punishing tariffs on Chinese goods and threatened more, touching off a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

“I hear so many stories that we’re not going to allow their students. We’re going to allow their students to come in,” Trump told reporters. “It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important. But we’re going to get along with China.”

Trump’s pledge to allow more Chinese students to attend college in the U.S. was the latest in a series of trade-related actions and statements that have set Washington and Beijing at odds over the past few months.

Trump announced this week that the U.S. would impose a tariff of 145 percent on all Chinese goods and last week threatened a 200 percent tariff on magnets made in China, which he said Beijing has a near-total monopoly on.

The tariffs follow a year of escalating levies on both sides. In May, negotiators in Geneva agreed to hold off on new tariffs as the two sides try to negotiate. But in recent weeks, Trump has frequently threatened new tariffs. China has retaliated with tariffs of its own, and trade between the two has fallen.

A jump to 600,000 Chinese students would more than double the number of such students in the U.S. today, which stands at roughly 270,000. Trump’s number appeared to include Chinese students at community colleges as well as four-year universities.

The $40,000 cost of a four-year degree at many U.S. universities has kept China from becoming the biggest source of international students for American schools, as it is in the U.K., Germany, and Australia.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month, in a move aimed at punishing Beijing, the department said it would “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese nationals found to have links to the Chinese Communist Party or working in certain research areas.

But Trump on Monday said he had reversed the move. “I happen to believe, and always have believed, in allowing the students to come in,” Trump said in June.

His about-face will be welcome news in the U.S. education industry, which had raised concerns about the proposed restrictions.

Trump to Meet With South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Hawaii Today

Trump’s announcement was one of several statements he made on Monday. He was due to meet with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung later Monday in Hawaii. Trump said Lee and Xi have a “good relationship” and would have dinner together on Monday.

Trump, who had seemed less receptive to Chinese students in the past, said earlier this month he had decided to allow them into the U.S. because it would provide financial relief to U.S. colleges and universities. But on Monday, he focused less on financial considerations and more on the need to resume trade talks with Beijing.

“As you know, we’re taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and the different things,” Trump said. “It’s a very important relationship. It’s a much better relationship economically than it was before with Biden. But he allowed that. They just took him to the cleaners.”

Asked if he would be open to a meeting with Xi this year, Trump said: “I would like to meet him this year. I would like to meet him this year. I think it’s good to meet. I think it’s good to maintain dialogue.”

“I would like to meet him this year. I would like to meet him this year. I think it’s good to meet. I think it’s good to maintain dialogue.” Trump said he would meet with Xi again this year if the two leaders wanted to meet.