Beijing dismisses US trade negotiation claims, calls for ‘sincerity’ from Washington

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said his administration was talking with China on trade, after Beijing denied the existence of negotiations on a deal and demanded the US revoke all unilateral tariffs.

“They had a meeting this morning,” Trump said Thursday 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 US 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.”

The exchange exposed the ongoing disconnect between Washington and Beijing, as President Xi Jinping’s government maintains a defiant stance despite Trump’s recent suggestion he could lower tariffs on China.

Earlier in the day Chinese Commerce Ministery spokesman He Yadong had dismissed speculations that progress had been made in bilateral communications. “I want to emphasise that there are currently no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States.” He said at a regular briefing in Beijing Thursday, adding that “any report on development in talks are groundless and have no factual basis.”

The US should “show sincerity” if it wants to make a deal,” he said. “The US should respond to rational voices in the international community and within it sown borders and thoroughly remove all unilateral tariffs imposed on China, if it really wants to solve the problem.”

The remarks suggest that Trump’ comments this week signalling that he could lower tariffs on China – which currently stand at 145 percent for most goods – will not be enough to de-escalate tensions. The US leader said Wednesday that “everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China and that Beijing was “going to do fine” once talks had 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 reported.

Other conditions include a more consistent US position and 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.

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Trump shifted his tone yet again on Thursday criticising Beijing for refusing to take deliveries of Boeing Co. jets and for its role in the trade of illegal fentanyl. The US 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 on social media. “And, by the way, Fentanyl continue 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 US that could hurt its interest.

Highlighting how the strain in trade ties is spilling into other areas of the relationship, China’s Defense Ministry on Thursday blamed the “biased” view of “some individuals in the US” for hindering engagement between the Chinese and US militaries.

Policy Support

The focus now is on what policy support Beijing will unleash to shield the world’s no. 2 economy front 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.

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 its stimulus announcement,” he added.

Beijing has typically dispensed stimulus only as it is needed to protect the nation’s annual growth goal. With first quarter expansion coming in at 5.4 percent – above the about 5 percent target for 2025 – policymakers might feel they have room to wait.

The remarks from China’s commerce and defense ministries came hours after Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, warned of the threat ongoing frictions posed to trust in the global economic system, during Chinese officials’ first trip to the US 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 Group of 20 meeting in Washington on Wednesday.