China on Thursday indicated it has no intentions of escalating the trade war with the United States — and said it’s “willing to negotiate,” according to a report.
“We firmly reject an escalation of the trade war, and are willing to negotiate and collaborate in order to solve this problem with a calm attitude,” said Gao Feng, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, according to a CNBC translation.
“China has plenty of means for countermeasures, but under the current situation, the question that should be discussed right now is about removing the US′ new tariffs on $550 billion Chinese goods to prevent escalation of the trade war,” Gao said.
He said Chinese and US trade delegations have maintained “effective” communication, the report said.
The news comes as President Trump revealed Thursday morning on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” that the two sides planned to chat today.
“There is a talk scheduled for today, at a different level,” Trump said, without going into detail, when asked by the Fox radio host if there were any talks planned next week.
“We have been talking, we continue to talk,” the president added.
Last Friday, the trade war ramped up when China announced new retaliatory tariffs of 5 percent and 10 percent on $75 billion of US products.
The move prompted Trump to immediately fight back, saying he’d increase existing and future levies on Chinese goods — sending US markets into a tailspin.
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