U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House.
Leah Millis | Reuters
PresidentDonaldTrumpasserted on Thursday thattradetalksbetween the U.S. and China are underway, pushing back against Chineseclaims that no discussions have taken place to ease the ongoingtradewar.
“They had a meeting this morning,”Trumptold reporters, declining to say to whom he was referring. “It doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China.”
China on Thursday said ithad not heldtradetalkswith Washington despite repeated comments from the U.S. government suggesting there had been engagement.
“China and the United States have not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached an agreement,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at a news briefing, calling reports of such information “false news.”
AWhite House official said lower level in-persontalksas well as a phone call between U.S. and Chinese staff had taken place this week.
The conflicting statements from Washington and Beijing underscore the strained communication and uncertainty defining the currenttradewar, adding volatility to global markets and prolonging economic pain on both sides.
American businesses face soaring import costs while Chinese exporters are squeezed by falling U.S. demand.
Trumpand Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week indicated there might be an easing in tensions with China.
On Wednesday, Bessent said excessively high tariffs between the U.S. and Chinawill have to come downbeforetradenegotiations can proceed and that de-escalation was necessary for the world’s two largest economies to rebalance their trading relationship.
The White House earlier this month imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to respond with duties of its own and increased restrictions on critical minerals exports to the United States.
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