Trump rejects China's statement on bilateral trade dialogue

New York [US], April 25: "They had a meeting this morning. It doesn't matter who they are. We can reveal later, but they had meetings this morning and we met with China," President Donald Trump said on April 24 about the U.S.-China trade dialogue amid tensions, according to Reuters.
Earlier, Trump said his administration was in direct dialogue with China "every day," but Chinese officials denied reports that the two countries were in trade talks. China's Ministry of Commerce on April 24 called on the United States to lift all "unilateral tariffs" imposed over the past time to show sincerity.
"As far as I know, China and the United States have not conducted any consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue, let alone reached an agreement," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a news conference on April 24, calling the information that the two sides were talking about fake news.
However, Reuters quoted a White House official as revealing that low-level face-to-face conversations and a phone call between officials from the two countries took place this week.
President Trump and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week signaled that they could reduce tensions with China, but the White House insisted it would not unilaterally reduce tariffs. On April 23, Bessent said the tariffs of the two countries would have to be reduced before trade talks could proceed.
The White House this month imposed a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to respond and increase restrictions on exports of critical minerals to the United States.
Also on April 24, President Trump called on Boeing to sue China for refusing to accept the new planes it had pledged to buy. "This is just a small example of what China has been doing to the United States for years," Trump wrote on Truth Social, alleging that the addictive substance fentanyl is still being poured into the United States from China.
Beijing did not immediately comment on the information but has long denied Washington's allegations of fentanyl issues.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told CNBC on April 23 that China has stopped accepting new planes because of tariffs and that some of the Boeing 737 MAX that have been brought to China are returning to the United States. Ortberg said Boeing would stop producing planes for China if the country's airlines did not receive the planes, and that those planes would be delivered to new customers.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper