Trump Says China Talks Back on as Beijing Downplays Breakthrough
Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the prospects for a deal with China are better now than at any time since negotiations began last year, even as a top state-media editor in Beijing questioned his version of events.
Speaking at the Group of 7 meetings in Biarritz, France, Trump said last night China called “our trade people and said let’s get back to the table.” He also lauded President Xi Jinping as a “great leader” and said “anything’s possible” when asked if he would delay tariff increases on China.
“You can say we’re having very meaningful talks, much more meaningful than I would say at any time frankly,” Trump said while meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday. “Maybe I’m wrong but we’re in a stronger position now to do a deal, a fair deal for everyone,” he added.
Still, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry wasn’t able to immediately confirm the details of the phone calls on Monday. Later, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of China’s Global Times newspaper, said in a tweet that top trade negotiators hadn’t spoken by phone in recent days and that Trump was exaggerating the significance of the trade contacts.
Trump later, at a separate bilateral meeting, insisted that calls were had at the highest level and was not aware that China was disputing them. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, also in Biarritz, said «there were discussions that went back and forth and let’s just leave it at that.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose after Trump commented on the chances for a China deal. Earlier U.S. equity-future indexes increased on optimism that talks would restart. In Asia, shares on all major indexes declined led by Hong Kong which fell 2.3%.
Trump’s comments mark the latest twist in months of negotiations that have seen moments of optimism give way to even greater escalation. While the two sides have at times appeared close to a deal, China has balked at U.S. demands for market-based reforms in areas like state-run enterprises that could jeopardize the Communist Party’s grip on power