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Investing.com-- China is evaluating the possibility of trade talks with the U.S., a commerce ministry spokesperson said on Friday, emphasizing that any dialogue must be based on sincerity and the removal of unilateral tariffs.
The comments came in response to recent U.S. statements suggesting a willingness to engage in trade negotiations.
China’s commerce ministry noted that Washington has sent signals through various channels seeking to start talks.
“China’s position is consistent. If we fight, we will fight to the end; if we talk, the door is open. The tariff war and trade war were unilaterally initiated by the United States,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
China added that if the U.S. wants to talk, it must "show sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs."
"Saying one thing and doing another, or even trying to coerce and blackmail under the guise of talks, will not work with China," the statement read.
The commerce ministry comments come after Chinese state media reports showed U.S. officials had reached out to China with the intent of opening trade talks. Recent comments from U.S. officials also signaled some openness to trade talks, amid increasing anxiety over the economic fallout of a prolonged Sino-U.S. trade war.
Any dialogue between the U.S. and China is likely to signal a deescalation in their bitter trade conflict, which saw both countries slap steep trade tariffs on each other in April. U.S. President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on China to an unprecedented 145%, to which Beijing responded with a 125% duty on U.S. goods.
Trump said in April that he was open to lowering tariffs against China, but this would require Beijing coming to the negotiating table first. Chinese officials, on the other hand, insisted that negotiations would not take place unless Trump first lowered his tariffs on the country.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said in April that he expected trade tariffs on China to fall before negotiations could begin. He also flagged a potentially long, drawn-out path towards a Washington-Beijing trade deal.
Trump’s tariffs on China are aimed at curbing the U.S.’ massive trade deficit with the country. While his tariffs already appear to be bringing down U.S. imports from the country, they also stand to sharply increase costs for U.S. companies and consumers, given that local businesses source several critical materials from China which cannot be easily replaced.
Trump’s tariffs also present headwinds for companies heavily exposed to the Chinese supply chain. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) - which manufactures about 90% of its devices in China- on Thursday flagged a $900 million hit in the second quarter from Trump’s tariffs.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) also forecast weakness in its core ecommerce and retail unit due to Trump’s tariffs.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.