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."
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Yahoo
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Marines arrive in LA under Trump orders as protests spread to other cities
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
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How viral images are shaping views of L.A.'s immigration showdown
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It's 'adding ammo to ICE's justification,' one poster said, attaching a screenshot of a Homeland Security post showing masked protesters with Mexican flags. Many accounts, knowingly or unknowingly, shared images that warped the reality of what was happening on the ground. An X account with 388,000 followers called US Homeland Security News, which is not affiliated with DHS but paid for one of X's 'verified' blue check marks, posted a photo of bricks that it said had been ordered to be 'used by Democrat militants against ICE agents and staff!! It's Civil War!!' The photo actually originated on the website of a Malaysian construction-supply company. The post has nevertheless been viewed more than 800,000 times. On Sunday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's X account tried to combat some of the misinformation directly, saying a viral video post being passed around as evidence of the day's chaos was actually five years old. 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New York Post
25 minutes ago
- New York Post
Fetterman rips ‘anarchy and true chaos' in LA, warns Dems not to cede ‘moral high ground'
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has denounced the riots in Los Angeles and warned his party about the pitfalls of failing to adequately condemn the 'anarchy and true chaos. 'I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that,' Fetterman (D-Pa.) wrote on X on Monday evening. 'This is anarchy and true chaos. My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement.' Advertisement The Keystone State Dem included a photo of cars being scorched in a fiery blaze with a shirtless masked man waving a Mexican flag in the background. 3 President Trump has deployed several thousand National Guard troops to Los Angeles to try to help quell the violent protests over his illegal-immigration crackdown. Toby Canham for NY Post Advertisement 3 Sen. John Fetterman, a Dem from Pennsylvania, isn't mincing words about his condemnation of the riots in Los Angeles. Getty Images Around the time of his post, Fetterman was spotted at Butterworth's, a top MAGA hangout in Washington, DC — dining with Trump ally Steve Bannon and Breitbart's Matt Boyle, Politico Playbook reported. Tech mogul Elon Musk commended Fetterman's condemnation of the 'anarchy and true chaos' unfolding in LA, replying with an American flag emoji. Fetterman's post came amid a feud between President Trump and top California Democrats over the prez's decision to federalize the California National Guard and bring in troops to tame the unrest in Los Angeles. Advertisement Protesters had flooded the streets in droves Friday to demonstrate against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts in the city. The ICE agents' targets have included a Home Depot in Paramount. 3 Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has stressed that the violent destructive rioting has largely been limited to downtown. Toby Canham for NY Post By Saturday, some of the demonstrations devolved into violent clashes with federal authorities in Compton and Paramount. The Trump administration mobilized another 2,000 troops to respond to the mayhem, after previously ordering an initial 2,000 troops to the region over the weekend. Trump's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, said Monday he also was deploying 700 Marines to the area to help try to contain the chaos. Advertisement Top leadership in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — both Democrats — slammed the GOP White House for the troop mobilization and pleaded with the public not to turn to violence to protest Trump's immigration policies. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, also a Dem, filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration seeking to void the president's memo to federalize the state's National Guard. Fetterman hasn't been afraid to punch the left in his own party, particularly when it comes to Israel. Near the end of the Biden administration, he had also favored measures to strengthen border security.
