China says ‘door open’ to trade talks after Trump signals tariffs will fall

BEIJING: China said on Wednesday the door was “wide open” for trade talks with Washington, a day after US President Donald Trump signalled the possibility of a “substantial” lowering of tariffs on Beijing.

Bringing further relief to global markets spooked by his aggressive trade policies, Trump also said on Tuesday he had no intention of firing US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed additional tariffs of 145 percent on many products from China.

These include duties initially imposed over China´s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain and later over practices Washington deemed unfair.

Beijing has responded with sweeping counter-tariffs of 125 percent on US goods, but reiterated on Wednesday that it was willing to engage in trade talks.

“China pointed out early on that there are no winners in tariff wars and trade wars,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a daily news conference in Beijing. “The door for talks is wide open.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping also warned on Wednesday that trade wars “undermine the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, hurt the multilateral trading system and impact the world economic order”, state media said.

The reiteration from Beijing comes after Trump acknowledged that 145 percent was a “very high” level and that will “come down substantially”.

“They will not be anywhere near that number” but “it won´t be zero”, he said.

“Ultimately, they have to make a deal because otherwise, they´re not going to be able to deal in the United States.”

Those comments came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door event on Tuesday that the tariffs amounted to a reciprocal trade embargo.

Bessent said he expected a de-escalation in the near future, according to a person who was in the room.