U.S. tariffs against China must be lifted for the two sides to reach a deal to end the trade war, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.
Trade teams from the world’s top two economies “have maintained communication”, Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said, days after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed at the G20 in Japan to revive negotiations.
“The United States’ unilateral tariff increase on China’s exports to the United States is the starting point for the Sino-U.S. economic and trade frictions,” Mr. Gao said at a weekly press briefing. “If the two sides can reach an agreement, the tariffs imposed must be completely eliminated. China’s attitude toward this is clear and consistent,” Mr. Gao said.
The countries have exchanged tariffs on $360 billion in two-way trade and negotiations broke down in May after the United States accused China of reneging on its commitments.
The U.S. leader said he would not slap new tariffs on Chinese exports and suggested he could take a softer stance on Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which he has moved to blacklist.
On Wednesday, Trump administration officials said top representatives of the U.S. and China are organising a resumption of talks for next week to try to resolve the trade war. “Those talks will continue in earnest this coming week,” White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters.
An official from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said later that the two sides were in the process of scheduling a principal-level phone call with Chinese officials for next week.
Mr. Kudlow was unclear about the timeline for relaunching face-to-face talks. “I don’t know precisely when. They’re on the phone. They’re going to be on the phone this coming week and they’ll be scheduling face-to-face meetings,” he said.
(With Reuters inputs)