By Yukun Zhang, Jing Xu and Lewis Jackson
BEIJING (Reuters) – China called for all “unilateral” U.S. tariffs to be cancelled on Thursday, as signs emerged that the Trump administration may de-escalate its trade war with Beijing.
China also clarified it has not held trade talks with Washington despite repeated comments from the U.S. government suggesting there had been engagement.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. will have a deal with China and on Wednesday said there was “direct contact” between both countries. Trump, who calls his tariffs “reciprocal”, says the duties aim to correct unfair trade imbalances with the U.S.
The U.S. should remove all “unilateral tariff measures” against China “if it truly wanted” to solve the trade issue, Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said on Thursday.
“The person who tied the bell must untie it,” he told reporters at a regular press conference.
The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods from their current level of 145% to possibly between 50% and 65%, pending talks with Beijing, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
China’s He also urged the U.S. to pay attention to the “rational voices” of the international community and domestic parties.
“China and the United States have not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached an agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a separate news briefing, calling reports of such information “false news”.
At home, China held a roundtable on Wednesday to address concerns of more than 80 foreign firms and chambers over the impact of U.S. tariffs on their investments and operations in China, according to a commerce ministry readout.
“It is hoped that foreign firms will…turn crises into opportunities,” Vice Commerce Minister Ling Ji said at the roundtable, promising to work on resolving problems faced by foreign firms.
In Washington D.C., China’s central bank Governor Pan Gongsheng said China will firmly support free trade rules and the multilateral trading system, in remarks made at a G20 meeting on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
(Reporting by Yukun Zhang, Jing Xu and Lewis Jackson; Writing by Liz Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Sharon Singleton)
