China insists no trade talks with US, despite Trump claim

BEIJING: China repeated Saturday that it had held no talks with the United States on trade issues, despite President Donald Trump’s claim that he had taken a call from Xi Jinping.

In an interview conducted on April 22 with Time magazine and published Friday, Trump did not say when the call with the Chinese leader took place or specify what was discussed.

“He’s called,” Trump said. “And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”

China’s commerce ministry had already denied on Thursday that Beijing and Washington were conducting economic or trade negotiations.

In a statement posted on WeChat Saturday, Beijing’s embassy in the US capital repeated that assertion, saying “there have been no consultations or negotiations between China and the United States on tariff issues, let alone any agreement”.

The statement did not mention Trump or Xi by name or directly reference Trump’s claim of a call, but said remarks by the United States that a dialogue on tariffs was ongoing were “nothing but misleading”.

“This trade war was initiated by the US side,” the statement said.

“If the US truly wants to resolve the issue through dialogue, it must first correct its mistakes, stop threatening and pressuring others, and completely remove all unilateral tariff measures against China.”

The world’s two biggest economies are locked in an escalating tit-for-tat trade battle triggered by Trump’s levies on Chinese goods, which have reached 145 percent on many products.

Trump suggested he will announce deals with US trading partners in the next few weeks.

“There’s a number at which they will feel comfortable,” Trump told Time, referring to China. “But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars on us.”