Trump says China wants to engage in trade negotiations

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump asserted on Tuesday that officials from China want to negotiate an easing of the trade war between the two powers, and that talks would take place "at the right time," German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

"They want to negotiate and have a meeting," Trump said in the Oval Office alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. "And we'll be meeting with them at the right time."

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs of up to 145 per cent on Chinese imports. In response, Beijing introduced retaliatory tariffs of up to 125 per cent on goods from the United States.

Both sides, however, have issued exemptions for specific items seen as critical, such as certain electronics, in order to mitigate the economic fallout.

Trump has repeatedly made conflicting statements about the status of talks with Beijing. He previously said there had been exchanges between the two sides, including a telephone call between him and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Beijing denied those claims.

Just hours before Trump's latest comments, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a congressional committee that no formal negotiations between the world's two largest economies had yet begun.

-- BERNAMA