China ‘still discussing’ next round of trade war talks with US amid escalating tensions as new tariffs loom
- Commerce ministry spokesman confirms sides have maintained ‘effective communications’ since last round of face-to-face talks in Shanghai in July
- China has lodged a formal diplomatic complaint with latest tariff increases by US President Donald Trump set to come into force this weekend
China and the United States are “still discussing” whether a Chinese trade delegation will travel to Washington in September to conduct the next round of face-to-face negotiations as part of the escalating trade war, China’s commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said on Thursday.
His comments came hours after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin refused to confirm whether the scheduled trade talks would take place next month.
Gao also confirmed that trade representatives from both sides had maintained “effective communications” since the last round of face-to-face talks in Shanghai at the end of July, but did not say whether a phone call between top trade negotiators had taken place in the past week.
China’s Vice-Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Mnuchin held a telephone conversation on August 13, with China’s commerce ministry stating at the time that the next call would take place two weeks later, a time frame which passed this week.
What should be discussed now is that the US must call off its plan to impose [additional] tariffs on US$550 billion worth of Chinese products to avoid a further escalation in the trade dispute
News of the ongoing discussions comes after the trade conflict between the two countries escalated last week after China announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, which responded with a plan to further increase tariffs on Chinese products.
US President Donald Trump softened his tone on Monday, saying a phone conversation had taken place and China was eager to strike a deal, however, China’s foreign ministry said it had no information that such a call had taken place.