China 'evaluating' US offer to negotiate tariffs; Beijing's door is 'open'

BEIJING: Beijing is "evaluating" an offer from Washington to hold talks over U.S. President Donald Trump's crippling tariffs, China's Commerce Ministry said on Friday, signalling a potential de-escalation in the trade war that has roiled global markets.

The United States has approached China to seek talks over Trump's 145% tariffs and Beijing's door was open for discussions, the commerce ministry said.

The U.S. should be prepared to take action in "correcting erroneous practices" and cancel unilateral tariffs, the commerce ministry said in a statement, adding that Washington needed to show "sincerity" in negotiations.

"The U.S. has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China," the statement said, adding that Beijing was "evaluating this".

"Attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and extortion would not work," it added. China has repeatedly denied it is seeking to negotiate a way out of the tariffs with the United States, appearing instead to be betting that Washington makes the first move.

Trump's decision to single Beijing out for import duties of 145% comes at a particularly difficult time for China, which is struggling with deflation due to sluggish economic growth and a prolonged property crisis.

Beijing has expressed its anger at the tariffs, which it says are tantamount to bullying and cannot stop the rise of the world's second-largest economy.

Alongside leveraging its propaganda machine to hit back at the duties, China has quietly created a list of U.S.-made products it will exempt from its retaliatory 125% tariffs - including select pharmaceuticals, microchips and jet engines - Reuters has reported.

On the U.S. side, officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, have also expressed hope for progress in easing trade tensions.

"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 ... we will start focusing on a larger trade deal," Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network this week.

Trump said on Wednesday he believed there was a "very good chance" his administration could do a deal with China, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping called on officials to take action to adjust to changes in the international environment, without explicitly mentioning the United States.