China Denies Trump’s Claims Of Trade Talks With U.S. As ‘Fake News’

China has denied President Donald Trump‘s claims about trade talks with the United States as “fake news,” and demanded that the U.S. lift all unilateral tariffs imposed on it.

On April 23, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the “astronomical” duties on Chinese goods would decrease greatly.

He vowed to be “very nice” in future negotiations and said he would not discuss the Covid-19 outbreak when the two sides meet. 

Those remarks gave investors hope that smaller tariffs would reduce costs for businesses and consumers, even though Beijing expressed little interest.

“He who tied the bell must untie it,” Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong declared at a Thursday briefing, reciting a Chinese proverb.

“The unilateral tariff hikes were initiated by the United States,” he added, referring to Trump’s increase of tariffs on the country to 125% two weeks ago. “If Washington truly wishes to solve the problem, it should completely remove all unilateral tariff measures against China and handle differences through equal dialogue.”

The president announced a new set of tariffs one week before this unilateral increase. These included a minimum baseline tax of 10% on all trading partners and additional levies on countries like China and EU members.

On Wednesday, the president told reporters that U.S. and Chinese representatives speak bilaterally “every day” about trade, though he gave no details. 

The next morning, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun rejected these comments.

“These are all fake news,” Guo claimed. “To my knowledge, China and the United States have not engaged in any consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue, let alone reached any agreement.”

Advisers close to Beijing’s leadership stated that the president’s softer tone suggests he is under domestic pressure from business and financial circles concerned about the economic cost of the trade war.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters that Guo was wrong to deny the alleged trade talks.

“[China is] saying it’s ‘fake news’ that trade talks are happening,” a reporter told Trump at the White House.

“Well, they had a meeting this morning,” the president responded.

“It doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is,” he said. “We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning. And we’ve been meeting with China.”

One day earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that in-depth trade talks with China were currently being placed “to the side.”