China open to talks with Trump admin on lowering tariffs, ministry says
China is "evaluating" an offer from the U.S. to hold talks on tariffs, according to a Friday statement from the Chinese Commerce Ministry. This shift in tone could leave the door open for the world's two largest economies to deescalate the trade war that has left global markets in turmoil.
"The U.S. has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China," the ministry said in a statement, according to a Reuters translation. The ministry also said that Beijing was "evaluating this."
However, while Beijing appears to be open to negotiations, the Chinese Commerce Ministry warned that it would not be forced into making a bad deal. According to the Reuters translation, the ministry said that "attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and extortion would not work."
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria" that he believed Beijing was looking to reach an agreement with the U.S.
"I am confident that the Chinese will want to reach a deal. And as I said, this is going to be a multi-step process. First, we need to de-escalate. And then the over time we will start focusing on a larger trade deal," Bessent said.
President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs last month. He slapped a 145% tariff on Chinese imports. Meanwhile, Beijing put a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. However, the country recently waived the tariff on a host of American-made products.
There were already exemptions for some pharmaceuticals, microchips and aircraft engines, but China added an exemption for ethane imports, according to Reuters.
Beijing's change in messaging regarding the tariffs comes in stark contrast to its April 23 comments during a U.N. Security Council Arria-formula meeting on "The Impact of Unilateralism and Bullying Practices on International Relations." At that meeting, China accused the U.S. of using tariffs to bully the rest of the world.
"Under the guise of reciprocity and fairness, the U.S. is playing a zero-sum game, which is essentially about subverting the existing international economic and trade order by means of tariffs, putting U.S. interests above the common good of the international community and advancing hegemonic ambitions of the U.S. at the cost of the legitimate interest of all countries," Chinese U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said in his opening remarks.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the meeting was "a waste of U.N. Security Council members' time." The spokesperson also slammed the meeting as an example of China's manipulation of "the multilateral system to support its economic, political, and security interests."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
11 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Can schools like St. Bonaventure and FIU thrive in college athletics without the big bucks?
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — As schools prepare to begin sharing millions with their athletes, there is no avoiding the reality that if you're not a Power Four school, you're at a disadvantage. With major conferences running the show, St. Bonaventure and Florida International don't even have a seat at the table. FIU and St. Bonaventure aren't necessarily worried about a head-to-head fight over top players with deeper-pocketed schools. The priority has become survival and finding a balance between athletics ambition and financial sustainability. Adrian Wojnarowski spoke candidly about the challenges he faced during his inaugural season as the general manager of the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team. Solidifying a recruiting class that would improve the team and embrace the school culture was not easy. After July 1, when lucrative paychecks will pretty much become mandatory for blue-chip prospects, it's not going to get any easier. With some 2,000 undergraduate students, the Bonnies are outnumbered in resources and revenue when competing even against other Atlantic 10 teams like VCU, Dayton, and Saint Louis. Wojnarowski, ESPN's former lead NBA reporter, thinks he has identified a formula for locating the ideal prospect. To him, St. Bonaventure is a landing spot for international players adjusting to a new culture and college life, transfers who may have fallen short at a high major and need development, or those looking to move up to a mid-major. He admits the school upstate New York could be a pit stop on a player's journey. 'I want them to see that our environment, our coaching staff, our small school, especially for international players coming over, what I really try to sell is your adjustment to American college life," he said at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and Affiliates Convention this week. 'I think for a lot of kids, it's easier in a school with 1,900 students than a school with 19,000. And you'll come to have two great years with us, and then you'll probably end up at schools with 19,000 or 29,000,' he said. "And so you're selling, for us, we're your first step on the way to somewhere else, or the other one to me is we're the place to come when you've got to get the basketball right.' If the plan goes awry and a recruit slips away, one thing the former NBA insider refuses to do is blame the money. 'Fundraising is hard, creating new revenue streams is hard, but the one thing that I try to stay away from with us is not saying, 'Oh, we didn't get him because they offered more money,' and using that as a crutch all the time. I really examine when we lost a player,' Wojnarowski said. 'Are we being honest with ourselves in saying that we did everything outside the economics to make our case to this person?' FIU has more than 40,000 undergraduates, but the athletic department is using a similar philosophy, pinpointing advantages and opportunities to come from the settlement instead of the negatives. Similar to St. Bonaventure, FIU doesn't expect to come close to the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap available over the next year. For a competitive edge, unlocking new revenue streams is fundamental. 'To compete, from a revenue standpoint, you have to think outside the box of your conventional fundraising and targeting donors,' senior associate athletic director Joseph Corey said. 'That's why you're looking at concerts being held at different venues, different festivals to generate extra revenue to bring in, different revenue streams, and not just fundraising going after the same donors. You've got to go beyond that in order to be able to compete.' Being based in Miami has its perks. Proximity to celebrities is one of them. In August, FIU secured a 10-year partnership with Pitbull, the singer and rapper who coins himself 'Mr. 305.' 'We did the partnership with Pitbull – Pitbull Stadium. He's on tour, but part of the deal was that he would be collaborating with us and doing events for us from a fundraising standpoint," Corey said. "You've got to think outside the box. Especially in a city like Miami, it's about the experience too.' Schools unlocking creative revenue streams is something that can be expected. FIU competes in Conference USA alongside teams like Liberty, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State. The football team went 3-5 in 2024, finishing sixth in the conference. The men's basketball team finished last with a 3-15 conference record. It's hard to sell donors on losing teams. 'Let's call it what it is, FIU's not going to be able to keep up with the Alabama's of the world, the Georgia's, Michigan, or Texas, but what can we do? We can be the best in our conference. That is our goal,' Corey said. 'Let's be the best in our conference and really compete there because once you're at the top of your conference, that means more revenue in other areas. Everyone wants to donate to a winner.'
The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
More Americans see increased influence from religion in US: Gallup
More Americans said they see an increased influence from religion in the U.S., according to a new Gallup poll. The Wednesday poll found that 34 percent of respondents said they believe 'religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life,' up 14 points from May 2024. In December, 35 percent said the same about religion, one point higher than the recent Gallup poll. Back in April, President Trump pledged that 'religion is coming back to America' after kicking off his first White House Easter Egg Roll since coming back to office 'We're bringing religion back in America. We're bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America. That's why you see the kind of numbers that you see, the spirit and the kind of numbers that you see,' the president said in April. In Wednesday's Gallup poll, 59 percent of respondents said they believe religion's influence is dropping, down 2 points from December. Two percent also said religion's influence is the 'same' while 5 percent had 'no opinion.' In February, a Pew Research Center survey found that a decline in the number of Americans who identify as Christian appeared to be slowing down following years of losses. The Gallup poll took place from May 1 to 18, featuring 1,003 people and plus or minus 4 percentage points as a margin of sampling error.
New York Times
12 minutes ago
- New York Times
Judge Bars Trump Administration From Detaining Mahmoud Khalil
A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Trump administration from continuing to detain Mahmoud Khalil. However, the judge, Michael E. Farbiarz, paused his own order, saying that it would not go into effect until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, which would allow the administration to appeal. Mr. Khalil, whose wife and infant son are American citizens, has been held in Louisiana for three months. He has not been accused of a crime. This is a developing story and will be updated.
