The US is approaching China seeking talks on Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs, said social media accounts belonging to China’s state-run media could potentially signal Beijing’s openness to negotiations.
“The US has actively reached out to China through multiple channels in hopes of having a discussion on the issue of tariffs,” Yuyuan Tantian reported in a post published on its official Weibo social media account, citing an anonymous source.
US officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, also expressed their hopes to ease trade tensions.
Hassett told CNBC that there was “a loose debate about all of the governments” about the tariffs, and that the relaxation of duties on some US goods last week was a sign of progress.
Beijing makes little effort to contain anger in tariffs. Instead, it turned its rage at imported curb gatherings and attracting global condemnation.
That said, as they reverted to their duties using propaganda machines, China quietly created a list of US-made products that are exempt from retaliatory 125% tariffs, including hand-picked medicines, microchips and jet engines.
Bessent did not mention any particular consultations during the interview with Fox Business Network, but said that tariffs of 145% on the US and 125% on the Chinese side should be eliminated to begin negotiations.
“I’m sure the Chinese want to get to the deal, and like I said, this will be a multi-step process,” Bescent said. “First, we need to escalate. Then over time we start focusing on bigger trade contracts.”
He said in his first step it was to revisit China’s failure to successfully make its purchase commitment to American goods made as part of Trump’s 2020 “Phase 1” trade deal that ended the first trade war with Beijing.
The deal called for China to increase US manufacturing and agricultural and services purchases by $200 million a year over two years, but a community pandemic broke out shortly after it was signed.
Bescent said the “insid” non-tariff trade barriers and intellectual property theft were part of the negotiations with China over tariffs, adding that “everything is on the economic table.”
Trump’s tariffs exceeded 35% were prohibitively high for Chinese exporters.
Nomura Securities said that if the long-term ripple effect of a 50% drop in exports to the US to China progresses through the economy, roughly 16 million Chinese could lose jobs.
Bescent said there was pressure on China because it relies more on exports to the US than on the other side.
“They sell us about five times more than we sell them, so their factories are closing down as we speak,” Bescent said. “We’re entering the holiday season. Now we have orders being placed, so if those orders are not placed, it can be devastating for the Chinese.”
Still, Beijing asserts that it stands and fights, rather than rushes to the negotiation table.
“China does not need to engage in consultations with the US before the US takes substantive action,” Yuyuan Tantian’s post added, citing an anonymous expert. “However, if the US wants to begin contact, it is not harmful for China to be involved at this stage.
“China needs to closely observe and enforce the true intentions of the United States to maintain its initiative in both negotiation and conflict.”
Trump said in a US media interview released last Friday that his administration spoke with China to reach a tariff contract, and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him. Beijing repeatedly denied that such talks were taking place last week, accusing Washington of “misleading the people.”
“As far as I know, there have been no discussions or negotiations between China and the US regarding tariffs,” Guo Zi-Kung, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday.
Chinese officials have consistently said Beijing is open to consultations following warnings that “dialogue and negotiation must be based on equality, respect and mutual interest.”
Yuyuan Tantian is not one of China’s most prestigious state-run media. The Global Times, owned by People’s Daily, a governing Communist Party newspaper, has often first reported China’s next step in trade disagreements over the past few years.
Trump believed on Wednesday that his administration had a “very good opportunity” to do business with China, and after Xi asked staff to file a lawsuit to take action to adapt to changes in the international environment without explicitly mentioning the United States, he believed he could do business with China.