China denies any suggestion it is currently in talks with the US over tariffs

BANGKOK: China on Thursday denied any suggestion that it was in active negotiations with the administration of US President Donald Trump over tariffs, stating that any notion of progress in the matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.”

China’s comments followed Trump’s statement on Tuesday that things were going “fine with China” and that the final tariff rate on Chinese exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing on Thursday, “For all I know, China and the US are not having any consultation or negotiation on tariffs, still less reaching a deal.”

“China’s position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong said.

“Any claims about the progress of China-US trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis,” the spokesman added.

Earlier in the week, Trump told reporters that “everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China, although his Treasury Secretary had said there were no formal negotiations.

When asked on Thursday about China denying there were any conversations ongoing with the United States, Trump said, “They had a meeting this morning,” before adding, “it doesn’t matter who they is.”

The US president, a Republican, has expressed interest in finding a way to reduce his massive retaliatory tariffs on Chinese imports to the US. There are growing business and consumer concerns that the taxes will drive up inflation and potentially push the economy into a recession.

The Trump administration continued to send mixed signals throughout Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had a “very successful bilateral meeting” on Thursday with South Korea, indicating that the two countries could settle on the “technical terms” for an agreement as early as next week.

However, within minutes of Bessent’s statement, Trump reverted to his argument from Wednesday, saying it would be “physically impossible” to go through negotiations with dozens of countries and that “we are going to, at some point, just set prices for deals.”

“Some will be tariffed,” Trump said. “Some treated us very unfairly. They’ll be tariffed higher than others.”

Trump imposed 145% tariffs on imports from China, while China retaliated with 125% tariffs on US products. While Trump granted other countries a 90-day pause on the tariffs as their leaders pledged to negotiate with the US, China remained the exception. Instead, Beijing raised its own tariffs and implemented other economic measures in response, vowing to “fight to the end.” For instance, China restricted exports of rare earth minerals and filed multiple cases against the US at the World Trade Organization.

China also emphasised that any talks should involve the cancellation of all tariffs it currently faces.

“The unilateral tariff increase measures were initiated by the United States. If the United States really wants to solve the problem, it should face up to the rational voices of the international community and all parties at home, completely cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, and find ways to resolve differences through equal dialogue,” said He, the Commerce Ministry spokesman.

Despite the economic measures imposed on China, Trump said on Tuesday that he would be “very nice” and not play hardball with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together,” Trump said.

By RSS/AP