President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping meet in Beijing in November.REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstJust hours before President Donald Trump's deadline for raising tariffs on the country's goods, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce denied the US claims that negotiators from Beijing reneged on previously made agreements during trade talks.
"The U.S. side has given many labels recently, 'backtracking', 'betraying' etc...China sets great store on trustworthiness and keeps its promises, and this has never changed," Gao Feng, a Commerce Ministry spokesperson, said at a press conference Thursday, according to Reuters.
Trump, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin all said that the Chinese had walked back some of the key original promises during the latest round of negotiations. The two sides are seeking a deal to end a yearlong trade war and lower tariffs on roughly $360 billion worth of goods flowing between the US and China.The deleted text reportedly dealt with intellectual-property theft, trade secrets, forced technology transfers, competition policy, access to financial services, and currency manipulation, Reuters reported.
Feng told reporters that the Chinese officials in Washington, led by Vice Premier Liu He, are still seeking to strike a deal before the US is set to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods at midnight.
"We hope the US can meet China halfway, take care of each others' concerns, and resolve existing problems through cooperation and consultations," Feng said.
At 12:01 am ET, the US will increase the 10% tariff rate on the $200 billion tranche of goods to 25%, a drastic escalation of the trade war. China has already promised to respond with measures of their own.
During a press conference at the White House on Thursday, Trump was uncertain about whether the world's two largest economies would be able to strike a deal before the deadline."I have no idea what's going to happen," the president said.