US President Donald Trump has said that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world's largest economies could make a deal to end a bitter trade war.
"Yeah, we're talking to China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday."I would say they have reached out a number of times."
Trump confirmed that the talks had happened since he upped tariffs on China to a whopping 145 percent, after Beijing retaliated to his sweeping "Liberation Day" worldwide levies.
But Trump was cagey when asked if he had spoken directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite having dropped several hints in the past that he has.
"I've never said whether or not they've happened," he said when asked about talks with Xi. "It's just not appropriate."
Beijing did not immediately react to Trump's claims.
'Ball is in China's court''
Pressed by reporters whether Xi had reached out to him, Trump replied: "You'd think it was pretty obvious that he has, but we will talk about that soon."
Trump's administration is locked in a war of sky-high reciprocal tariffs with superpower rival China that has unnerved world markets.
"I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House earlier as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited for talks aimed at ending US tariffs on the European Union.
China exported products more than $400 billion to the United States last year, much more than American companies sold to China.
"The ball is in China's court. China needs to make a deal with us. We don't have to make a deal with them," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday.
Regarding TikTok, Trump said a deal concerning the platform — whose US operations have faced scrutiny over national security concerns — was effectively in place, but its finalisation would be postponed.
"We have a deal for TikTok, but it'll be subject to China, so we'll just delay the deal till this thing works out," he said.
 
"The TikTok deal is very good. TikTok is good for China. And I think they'd like to see us do a deal, especially the deal that we have pretty much done with some of the best companies in the world."
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Source: TRT