China is hinting that it could be willing to talk to Trump administration officials as a way to end the trade and tariff war, according to a new report.
A Chinese Commerce Ministry representative said “China is currently evaluating” messages from administration officials that “expressed their willingness to negotiate with China on tariffs,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
“China’s position is consistent. If you want to fight, we will fight to the end; if you want to talk, our door is wide open,” the ministry representative said.
“If the U.S. wants to talk, it should show sincerity to talk, and be prepared to act in correcting its erroneous actions and canceling unilateral tariffs,” the representative said
President Donald Trump’s 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports led China to impose a 125 percent tariff on American imports.
Trump has said he will not blink without concessions that could include greater access to Chinese markets.
“I’m not going to drop them unless they give us something that’s, you know, substantial,” Trump said.
“Let us go in and work China,” he said. “To go into China and to sell our product, sell our wares.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that he thinks China is open to a deal, according to Fox News.
Are Trump’s tariffs working?
“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,” he said.
Coming to an agreement to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States could be a first step, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources it did not name.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has dispatched a top aide, Wang Xiaohong, to discuss the possibility of curbing sales of chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl.
Chinese companies currently produce those chemicals and sell them online. Criminal organizations in Mexico and other nations then manufacture fentanyl and sell it in the U.S.
Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations expert, said China could stop the fentanyl market, according to The New York Times.
“China is one of the most effective countries in the world in terms of control,” he said.
“The fentanyl problem has never been an unsolvable technical problem,” he said.
“It is just a political problem that can be solved in a matter of seconds as long as there is sincerity,” he said.
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