Washington, Apr 26: US President Donald Trump said his administration is in talks with China to strike a tariff deal and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him recently, according to a Time magazine interview published FridayHe’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump told Time, though he did not specify when the call occurred or what was discussed.
China on Friday denied Trump’s claim saying, “US should stop creating confusion.”
“China and the US are NOT having any consultation or negotiation on #tariffs. The US should stop creating confusion,” according to a foreign ministry statement posted on X.
Earlier in the day, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry had urged the Washington to stop “misleading the public” regarding the nature of the trade discussions, signaling frustration over US’ portrayal of the talks
Trump in the interview also told that he expects to wrap up US tariff deals within the next three to four weeks. When asked if it would still be a win for the US to have tariffs as high as 50% in a year, he told Time: “Total victory.”
The US president on Monday hinted at ongoing discussions involving China, telling reporters at the White House, “It doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China.” And just like all other times, he declined to specify whom he was referring to.
However, Beijing back then too pushed back against the suggestion of active talks. Responding to the White House’s claims, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the two sides had “not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached an agreement.” He dismissed reports suggesting otherwise as “false”.