The US and China have shown fresh signs of willingness to engage in trade negotiations, but any meaningful progress will hinge on greater “sincerity” from Washington, Chinese analysts have said.
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US President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that Washington and Beijing were in talks and that a deal on tariffs could be reached soon. He also hinted that he might not further increase tariffs on Chinese products.
In recent weeks, the world’s two largest economies have been locked in a tit-for-tat tariff battle in which each has imposed levies of at least 125 per cent on the other.
It began when Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” on almost all its trading partners in an effort to address what he calls a “trade imbalance” between the United States and the rest of the world.
While many nations have sought trade talks with the US, it is unclear whether China has done so, despite Trump’s claim that “top officials” from China had made contact “a number of times”.
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The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that it had maintained working-level communication with its US counterparts, but did not reveal what had been discussed. The ministry had said previously that Beijing was open to negotiations but only under conditions of equal terms with mutual respect.