China is ‘evaluating’ an offer from the U.S. to hold talks on tariffs, according to a Friday statement from the Chinese Commerce Ministry. This shift in tone could leave the door open for the world’s two largest economies to deescalate the trade war that has left global markets in turmoil.
‘The U.S. has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China,’ the ministry said in a statement, according to a Reuters translation. The ministry also said that Beijing was ‘evaluating this.’
However, while Beijing appears to be open to negotiations, the Chinese Commerce Ministry warned that it would not be forced into making a bad deal. According to the Reuters translation, the ministry said that ‘attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and extortion would not work.’
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on ‘Mornings with Maria’ that he believed Beijing was looking to reach an agreement with the U.S.
‘I am confident that the Chinese will want to reach a deal. And as I said, this is going to be a multi-step process. First, we need to de-escalate. And then the over time we will start focusing on a larger trade deal,’ Bessent said.
President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs last month. He slapped a 145% tariff on Chinese imports. Meanwhile, Beijing put a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. However, the country recently waived the tariff on a host of American-made products.
There were already exemptions for some pharmaceuticals, microchips and aircraft engines, but China added an exemption for ethane imports, according to Reuters.
Beijing’s change in messaging regarding the tariffs comes in stark contrast to its April 23 comments during a U.N. Security Council Arria-formula meeting on ‘The Impact of Unilateralism and Bullying Practices on International Relations.’ At that meeting, China accused the U.S. of using tariffs to bully the rest of the world.
‘Under the guise of reciprocity and fairness, the U.S. is playing a zero-sum game, which is essentially about subverting the existing international economic and trade order by means of tariffs, putting U.S. interests above the common good of the international community and advancing hegemonic ambitions of the U.S. at the cost of the legitimate interest of all countries,’ Chinese U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said in his opening remarks.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the meeting was ‘a waste of U.N. Security Council members’ time.’ The spokesperson also slammed the meeting as an example of China’s manipulation of ‘the multilateral system to support its economic, political, and security interests.’