Although US President Trump has repeatedly stated in recent days that negotiations with China on tariffs have begun and that an agreement is expected, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce denied at a regular press conference on the 24th that any negotiations had taken place and emphasized that "if the US truly wants to resolve the issue, it should...completely eliminate all unilateral tariff measures against China and find a solution to the differences through equal dialogue."
Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong noted that China has noted recent reports in foreign media. "I want to emphasize that there are currently no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States. Any claims about the progress of China-US trade negotiations are groundless and have no factual basis."
He stressed that China is open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultation and negotiation must be conducted on an equal footing based on mutual respect. "China urges the US to correct its wrong practices, show sincerity in talks if it wants to, and return to the right track of equal dialogue and consultation."
The Wall Street Journal reported on the 23rd, citing a senior White House official and people familiar with the matter, that the White House is considering reducing tariffs on China to between 50% and 65%. The administration is also considering a tiered system similar to the proposal put forward by the House China Committee late last year: a 35% tariff on goods deemed not to pose a national security threat by the United States, and tariffs of at least 100% on goods deemed to be of strategic importance and related to U.S. interests, with the entire system to be implemented gradually over five years.
However, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt later pointed out in an interview with Fox News that Trump's stance on China has not softened and the United States will not unilaterally lower tariffs on China.
Taiwan's Central News Agency reported on the 23rd that Christopher Adams, former U.S. Trade Representative to China, pointed out that one of the key factors in the US-China standoff is the lack of a clear mandate for the U.S. trade team. In the absence of a pre-existing dialogue mechanism, trust between the two sides is also quite weak. He emphasized that China still claims it doesn't know who to talk to, so the official designated by the United States to lead the negotiations is crucial. China has already designated Vice Premier He Lifeng to conduct high-level talks and former Chinese Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization Li Chenggang as its international trade representative. The United States also needs to have a clear choice.
This station also reported on April 10 that Liu Zongyuan, a senior researcher at the China program at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank, pointed out at a media briefing that it is not difficult for Xi Jinping to quickly make a policy shift from a trade war to peace talks, but the crux of the stagnation in the negotiations is that there is currently no working group between the United States and China to conduct negotiations.
