US Has Reached Out to Discuss Tariffs, China's State Media Says

The United States has approached China to discuss trade tariffs, a social media account linked to Chinese state media said on Thursday.

“The US has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue,” Yuyuan Tantian said in a post published on its official Weibo social media account.

The note, which cited anonymous sources, is the latest report of possible moves toward talks on levies of up to 145% imposed by US President Donald Trump.

ALSO SEE: China’s Factory Activity Falls as US Tariffs Kill Export Orders

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, on Wednesday said: “As far as I know, there have been no consultations or negotiations between China and the US on tariffs.”

Trump said in a US media interview published last Friday that his administration was talking with China to reach a tariff deal and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him. Beijing last week repeatedly denied such talks were taking place, accusing Washington of “misleading the public”.

Yuyuan Tantian is not among China’s most authoritative state media outlets. The Global Times, which is owned by the newspaper of the governing Communist Party, the People’s Daily, has often been the first to report China’s next steps in trade disagreements over the past few years.

Trump said on Wednesday he believed there was a “very good chance” his administration could do a deal with China, hours after Xi called for China, the world’s second-largest economy, to take action to adjust to changes in the international environment, without explicitly mentioning the United States.

Potential deals with India, Korea and Japan

Trump said later on Wednesday that he has “potential” trade deals with India, South Korea and Japan, as he seeks to convert his tariff policy into trade agreements.

At a town hall on the NewsNation television network, Trump was asked when he would be announcing agreements with those three countries. “We have potential deals” with them, he said.

Trump said he was in no rush to conclude the deals because the United States is reaping the benefits of the tariffs he has imposed.

“I’m in less of a hurry than you are. We are sitting on the catbird seat. They want us. We don’t need them,” he said.

Separately, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the administration expects to conclude initial tariff deals with some trading partners within weeks, but negotiations with India are not “finish-line close.”

Greer said no official talks had started yet with China, but he held a call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng announcing steep reciprocal tariffs on April 2. He said the administration wants fair trade with China.

“Instead of having an economy that’s financed by the government, we want to make real stuff and sell it, and it means we have to deal with foreign trade practices that are harmful, including in China,” Greer said.

‘We’re talking about weeks’

Greer told Fox News Channel that the Trump administration is focused on “targeted” deals aimed at increased market access for US exports, reducing tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, and enhancing US economic security.

“I would say that we have deals that are, that are close,” Greer said. “As the negotiator, I don’t like to negotiate in public, but I will say we’re talking about a matter of weeks and not months, to have some initial deals announced.”

In recent days, Trump officials have said that a deal with one key unnamed trading partner had been reached but needs approval by the country’s parliament and prime minister.

Asked whether a deal with India was imminent, Greer said it was not “finish-line close, but I have a standing call with India’s trade minister.” He also cited frequent US-India meetings in recent days.

Greer said he would meet with representatives from Japan, Guyana and Saudi Arabia on Thursday and the Philippines on Friday and is working closely with South Korea and Britain.

Greer said he is telling counterparts that they should reduce tariff levels and “take down your non-tariff barriers that stop me from sending my industrial and ag (agriculture) to your country.”

The US is also asking them to level the playing field in digital trade, intellectual property rights, labour and environmental standards, he said.

But with a record $1.2 trillion trade deficit last year, he said the US will want to keep some level of higher tariffs “until that’s resolved.”