China said it is evaluating U.S. overtures to initiate trade negotiations, potentially paving the way for the world’s two largest economies to start talks to resolve a trade war that has rumbled financial markets and cast a pall on global economic activity.
Senior U.S. officials have reached out recently “through relevant parties multiple times,” hoping to start negotiations with China on tariffs, a spokesperson for the commerce ministry said in a statement Friday.
While assessing the possibility of starting any negotiations, Chinese authorities reiterated Beijing’s request for the U.S. to remove all unilateral tariffs. Failure to do so would indicate “an outright lack of sincerity” from Washington and “further compromise mutual trust,” according to a CNBC translation.
“If the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs,” according to the statement.