Beijing says Washington ‘misleading public’ on trade talks

• President Xi Jinping of China

China’s foreign ministry has urged the United States to stop “misleading the public” on bilateral tariff negotiations, saying it was not familiar with reports on whether Beijing was planning to exempt tariffs on some U.S. imports.

Accusing Washington of deceit, a ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, told a press briefing on Friday that the United States and China were not engaged in consultations or talks on the tariff issue.

U.S. President Donald Trump had said yesterday that trade talks between the two countries were underway, with China’s foreign and commerce ministries denying such negotiations afterwards.

Likewise, Guo said today he was not familiar with the specifics of whether China was planning tariff exemptions on some U.S. imports.

Meanwhile, China’s top policymakers convened a meeting Friday, during which they highlighted the need to support businesses and workers amid rising “external shocks.”

Multiple rounds of tariff hikes and retaliatory measures have raised U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 per cent and China’s on U.S. imports to 125 per cent, upending the operations of many businesses on both sides.

The Trump administration had said it would consider lowering tariffs on some imported Chinese goods, pending talks with Beijing. On its side, however, China demanded that the U.S. cancels all “unilateral” tariffs if it wanted to solve the trade issue.