President Donald Trump continues to assert that his administration is in trade talks with China, after Beijing denied the existence of negotiations and demanded the United States revoke all unilateral tariffs.
“They had a meeting this morning,” Trump said today during a meeting with Norway’s prime minister when a reporter asked about the Chinese statement. Pressed on which administration officials were involved in discussions, the U.S. president said, “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.”
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The exchange exposes the ongoing disconnect between Washington and Beijing, as President Xi Jinping’s government maintains a defiant stance despite Trump’s recent suggestion that he may lower tariffs on China.
Earlier today, at a regular briefing in Beijing, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong dismissed speculation that progress has been made in bilateral communications, saying “any reports on development in talks are groundless” and urging the U.S. to “show sincerity” if it wants to make a deal. “The U.S. should respond to rational voices in the international community and within its own borders and thoroughly remove all unilateral tariffs imposed on China if it really wants to solve the problem,” he said.
The remarks suggest that Trump’s comments this week signaling that he may lower tariffs on China—which currently stand at 145 percent for most goods—will not be enough to de-escalate tensions. Trump said Wednesday that “everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China, adding that Beijing is “going to do fine” once talks have settled.
Trump has tried to get Xi on the phone a number of times since he returned to office, but the Chinese leader has, so far, resisted. Beijing wants to see a number of steps from Washington before it will agree to trade negotiations, including showing more respect and naming a point person for the dialogue, Bloomberg News previously reported. Other conditions include a more consistent U.S. position and a willingness to address China’s concerns around American sanctions and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing has vowed to claim someday, by force if necessary.
Trump shifted his tone yet again on social media today, criticizing Beijing for refusing to take delivery of Boeing Co. jets and for its role in the trade of illegal fentanyl. The United States imposed 20 percent tariffs on Chinese imports tied to fentanyl before slapping them with an additional 125 percent duty. “Boeing should default China for not taking the beautifully finished planes that China committed to purchase,” Trump posted. “And, by the way, Fentanyl continues to pour into our Country from China, through Mexico and Canada, killing hundreds of thousands of our people, and it better stop, NOW!”
China has responded to Trump’s volatile tariff moves with caution, with Beijing calling the high levels of levies “meaningless.” Authorities have also warned other countries against striking deals with the U.S. that could hurt China’s interests.
Highlighting how the strain in trade ties is spilling into other areas of the relationship, China’s Defense Ministry today blamed the “biased” view of “some individuals in the U.S.” for hindering engagement between the Chinese and U.S. militaries.
The focus now is on what policy support Beijing will unleash to shield the world’s second largest economy from the impact of tariffs on the export engine that drove some 40 percent of growth in the first quarter. Hints on stimulus could come as soon as this week, when the decision-making Politburo is expected to huddle, with its April meeting traditionally focused on the economy. Beijing has typically dispensed stimulus only as it’s needed to protect the nation’s annual growth goal. With first quarter expansion coming in at 5.4 percent—above the 5 percent target for 2025—policymakers might feel they have room to wait.
It’s “too early” for Beijing to go all in on policy support, according to Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie Group. “After all, it’s much easier for Trump to walk back his tariff threat than it is for Beijing to walk back a stimulus announcement.”
However, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, warned yesterday of the threat ongoing frictions pose to trust in the global economic system, during Chinese officials’ first trip to the U.S. since Trump unleashed his biggest tariffs yet. “All parties should strengthen cooperation and make efforts to prevent the global economy from sliding into a track of ‘high friction, low trust,’” Pan said at a G-20 meeting in Washington, according to a social media post by state broadcaster China Central Television.
Pan is one of the leading members of a Chinese delegation attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank this week in the U.S. capital, where discussions involving the United States, European Union (EU), and other G-20 members are also taking place. The events are expected to provide the first opportunity for Chinese economic officials to meet with Trump’s team in person since he drastically hiked tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this month.
There are “no winners in trade wars,” and China will remain open to the outside world and firmly support free trade and the multilateral trading system, Pan said, according to the report.
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