China calls Trump’s bluff

"China and the US have not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached any agreement,” stated the Chinese embassy in Washington DC on Saturday.

Washington had initiated the trade war and “whoever started the trouble should be the one to end it…if the US truly wishes to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it must correct its mistakes, cease threats and blackmail, completely lift all unilateral tariff measures against China, and engage with China based on equality, respect and reciprocity,” it said.

“While claiming to seek an agreement with China, the US continues to exert extreme pressure, which is neither the right way to engage with China nor a practical approach,” the embassy added.

The US President had claimed in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday that he had spoken with Xi Jinping and that details would be disclosed “at an appropriate time”. He was asked by reporters, before leaving for Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis when precisely they had spoken. The US President airily replied, “numerous times; it does not matter when”. asked whether they had spoken since the recent round of tariff tensions began, Trump said: “I don’t want to comment on that, but I’ve spoken to him numerous times.”

To Time magazine he said about Xi that “he’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” adding that he expected to announce several deals in the coming three to four weeks. “There’s a number at which they (China) will feel comfortable. But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars on us.”

The US President on Thursday had refuted a Chinese statement that the countries had not held any dialogue to ease the ongoing trade war. The US President insisted that there were meetings earlier in the day. “They had a meeting this morning,” Trump told reporters in the Oval office, declining to say to whom he was referring. “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.”

It is known that Trump has repeatedly tried to get President Xi Jinping on the phone and claimed all through this week that talks between the two sides were taking place. He refused to specify at what level though.

On his way to Rome and on board Air Force One, the US President appeared to harden his stance towards China on Friday, saying he would not roll them back unless Beijing offered “something substantial” in return. He also said that another 90-day pause on tariffs on imports from most other countries was “unlikely”. Asked what concessions he wanted Beijing to make, Trump said he would like to see China’s economy be “open”.

“That would be great. That would be a big win,” the President told reporters and added, “But I’m not even sure I’m going to ask for it because they don’t want it open. They don’t want it open.”

China has repeatedly denied any trade negotiations are underway, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday that the US “should not mislead the public.” On Thursday at a news briefing he had said, “China and the United States have not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached an agreement,” calling such claims “fake news”.

The unpredictable US President has issued conflicting signals, softening his stand to China one day and then hardening it a few days later—claiming all the while that it was the ‘art of the deal’ and that negotiations were on. He had also told a press conference in the White House that tariffs on Chinese goods “will not be as high as 145 per cent” and that “it’ll come down substantially, but won’t be zero”.

In the wide-ranging interview with Time, Trump claimed the US had already secured 200 trade deals, though he declined to name any of the countries involved. “I’ve made 200 deals,” he told the magazine, “100 per cent.” Pressed on why these deals had not yet been announced, Trump replied: “I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way.”