President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval office on Tuesday that the general tariff level imposed on China, currently 145 percent, will decrease significantly but “will not be zero.”
China is not negotiating with the United States on tariffs, Beijing declared Thursday, despite the fact that President Donald Trump, suggesting that the 145% tax on its imports could be reduced “substantially.”
The spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, said: “Any statement about the progress of the United China-United States commercial negotiations is unfounded to try to catch the wind and not have an objective basis,” according to Associated Press.
“The United States began the measures to increase the unilateral rate. If the United States really wants to solve the problem, it must face the rational voices of the international community and all the parties at home, completely cancel all measures of unilateral tariffs against China and find ways to solve differences through an equal dialogue,” he continued.
“China’s position is consistent and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be carried out on the basis of mutual respect and in the same way,” he added.
Trump suggests cutting China ‘substantially’ rates of 145%
Chinese President Xi Jinping, and President Donald Trump are seen in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. (Xinhua / Ju Peg through Getty Images / Getty Images)
However, Trump told journalists on Thursday that “we can reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning and we have been meeting with China.”
The president refused to prepare when asked about who “they” was.
Trump said Tuesday that the considerable tax rate of 145% of Americans must currently pay for Chinese imports will probably be reduced significantly.
While Trump said the rate “will not be zero,” optimism said on a possible commercial agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“One hundred forty -five percent is very high, and it won’t be so high,” Trump told reporters in the Oval office. “It will fall substantially, but it will not be zero.”
China accuses us of ‘intimidation’ of the world with tariffs at the UN meeting
President Donald Trump talks to journalists at the Oval Office of the White House on April 17. (Win McNamee / Getty images / getty images)
While Trump did not detail how much lower the rates could be, he said that a commercial agreement with China could “work very well.”
“They will do it very well, and I think they will be happy, and I think we are going to live together very happy and ideally work together,” Trump said.
The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also said Tuesday that “the President and the Administration are preparing the stage for an agreement with China.”
The president of China, Xi Jinping, shares President Donald Trump before a bilateral meeting outside the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“I wanted you to share with all that we are doing very well regarding a possible commercial agreement with China,” Leavitt added, also pointing out that “we believe that everyone involved wants a commercial agreement to occur and the ball moves in the right direction.”
Bonny Chu and Stephen Soreace of Fox Business contributed to this report.
