Trump claims U.S.-China trade talks underway as Beijing demands tariff rollback

Trump claims talks, China denies, demands U.S. tariffs removed first.

President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that U.S.-China trade talks are in progress, despite firm denials from Beijing and China's demand for all “unilateral” tariffs to be cancelled before any meaningful dialogue can resume.

“They had a meeting this morning,” Trump told reporters at the White House, without identifying participants. “It doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China.”

Trump has repeatedly maintained that the U.S. is in contact with Beijing and reiterated on Wednesday that a deal is likely. The U.S. president, who describes his tariff policy as “reciprocal,” argues the measures are necessary to correct longstanding trade imbalances.

On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said excessively high tariffs between the two nations must be lowered before negotiations can progress, adding that de-escalation is essential for rebalancing the global trade relationship.

However, China has directly contradicted those claims. “China and the United States have not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached an agreement,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, calling reports to the contrary “false news,” according to Reuters.

Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong echoed this view on Thursday, stating: “The person who tied the bell must untie it,” urging the U.S. to remove all unilateral tariff measures “if it truly wanted” to resolve the trade dispute. He further called on Washington to heed the “rational voices” of the international community and domestic stakeholders.

According to Reuters, the Trump administration is considering reducing tariffs on Chinese imports from the current 145% to a range of 50% to 65%, contingent upon progress in talks with Beijing.

The White House’s imposition of 145% tariffs earlier this month triggered immediate retaliation from China, which slapped duties on U.S. goods and introduced tighter restrictions on critical mineral exports.

At home, China convened a roundtable on Wednesday with over 80 foreign companies and chambers of commerce to address concerns over the impact of U.S. tariffs on their operations. Vice Commerce Minister Ling Ji urged attendees to “turn crises into opportunities,” pledging support to resolve their issues.

Meanwhile, China’s central bank governor Pan Gongsheng, speaking at a G20 event on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., said Beijing would continue to uphold free trade rules and the multilateral trading system.

The conflicting messages from both governments have added to global economic uncertainty. American firms face soaring import costs, while Chinese exporters are hit by falling U.S. demand, deepening the financial strain on both sides of the Pacific.

(Inputs from Reuters)