Topline
Chinese officials said Friday they are examining purported U.S. efforts to initiate trade talks, prompting a rise in U.S. stock futures and European markets and signaling a shift in tone by Beijing, a week after it dismissed the chance of dialogue while President Donald Trump’s “unilateral tariffs” remained in effect.
China signaled that it may be open to trade talks with the U.S.
Key Facts
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson told reporters China has “noticed that senior U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed their willingness to negotiate on tariffs.”
The spokesperson also claimed that the U.S. has “recently” reached out to China through relevant parties, hoping to start talks, and Beijing was currently “evaluating” this.
The Chinese official, however, noted that if the U.S. is keen to negotiate with China, it must show “sincerity” and be ready to take action on correcting its “wrong practices and cancel unilateral tariffs.”
The spokesperson then emphasized Beijing expects any dialogue or talks to lead to a reversal of Trump’s steep 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and if this is not done it will “further damage trust” between the two sides.
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How Have Markets Reacted To China’s Comments?
U.S. stock futures rose following the remarks, with S&P 500 Futures going up by 0.43% to 5,647.50 points in early trading and Dow Futures rising by 0.5% to 41,061.00 points. Nasdaq Futures also rose slightly to 19,926.25 points, up more than 0.3%. In Europe, the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.75% to 8,560.80 points in morning trading, while the pan-European Stoxx Europe 50 index rose more than 1.1% to 11,843.60 points.
What Had China Said Previously About Potential U.s. Trade Talks?
Friday’s remarks are a slight shift in tone from last week, when Beijing dismissed any chance of talks before the U.S. rolled back its “reciprocal tariffs” on Chinese imports. At the time, a commerce ministry spokesperson said any dialogue must be “conducted on an equal footing and based on mutual respect,” and insisted that this was not possible until the U.S. corrected its “wrong practices.” The spokesperson accused the U.S. of “unilaterally” provoking a trade war and said “pressure, threats and blackmail” were not the right approach to deal with China.
What Has President Trump Said About Talks With China?
The Chinese official’s comments last week were in response to President Donald Trump’s remarks that he expects trade talks with Beijing could lead to a significant lowering of the 145% tariff rate. At the time, Trump said he expects Chinese President Xi Jinping to come to the table to negotiate a trade deal as he promised to be “very nice” to China. “We’re going to be very nice. They’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens.” Trump also acknowledged that the existing tariff rates on China were “very high” and said: “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.” The president, however, struck a more defiant tone in an interview with ABC News marking his first 100 days in office. He defended his decision to slap China with steep levies and insisted that this would not lead to higher prices for consumers, as he believes that China would “eat those tariffs.” When prompted, he acknowledged that a 145% tariff effectively amounted to a trade embargo but added that this was “good” and said “they deserve it.”
Further Reading
China Demands Rollback On All Unilateral Tariffs As It Rebuffs Trump’s Offer To Negotiate (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/05/02/china-says-its-evaluating-us-trade-talk-overtures-stock-futures-up/