China Considers Trade Talk with the United States
Petra Williams
Petrathespectator.com
May 3, 2025 – The latest update in the global tariff war initiated by the United States is that China is evaluating the possibility of trade talks with the United States. This is the first and most unambiguous indication that Beijing may be open to dialogue if Washington demonstrates genuine sincerity with clear actions. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that senior US officials have contacted relevant parties multiple times in recent days in the hope of starting negotiations with China on tariffs.
The spokesperson reiterated China’s long-standing stance, saying that while China is ready to engage in dialogue, it is also prepared to defend its interests fully if necessary. “China is currently assessing the situation, but our position has always been clear,” the spokesperson said. “If it’s a fight, we’ll fight to the end. If it’s a talk, the door is wide open.”
The statement emphasized that the trade and tariff conflicts were started unilaterally by the United States, and any move toward negotiation must be backed by “genuine sincerity” from Washington. That includes correcting its missteps and removing the imposed unilateral tariffs on Chinese goods. “Saying one thing and doing another — or even trying to use talks as a cover for coercion and blackmail — won’t work with China,”
Industry experts said China’s latest remarks did not signal a softening in its position, but a strategic flexibility grounded in the need to safeguard national interests and global economic stability.
Tu Xinquan, director at the University of International Business and Economics’ China Institute for WTO Studies, said: “China’s remarks reflect a flexible posture rather than a softened stance. It is a measured stance based on a full assessment of both domestic and international conditions. The ultimate goal for the world’s two largest economies is to return to the negotiating table, as long as the US demonstrates sincerity – such as removing its unilateral tariff hikes. Otherwise, China is fully prepared to continue dealing with a prolonged trade war.”
Xing Ziqiang, chief economist at Morgan Stanley China, predicted that the weighted average tariff imposed by the US on Chinese goods may be reduced to a certain extent by the end of the second quarter. Broader tariff reductions are more likely to occur in the second half of the year, especially toward the end of the fourth quarter. According to him, the signals also reflect a global dynamic, as most countries have adopted a wait-it-out, delay, or stonewalling strategy.”The US also hopes to disrupt this balance by portraying China as already negotiating, to weaken the resolve between China and other WTO members, shaking the confidence of third parties, and thereby creating opportunities to apply pressure on China,” he said.
Washington is facing mounting pressure at home to rethink its tariff strategy. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote to trade officials in the Trump administration on April 30 2025, urging the immediate implementation of “a tariff exclusion process to keep the U.S. economy from falling into a recession and inflicting irreparable harm on small businesses. “ The group asked trade officials Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer to automatically lift tariffs on all small business importers and on all products that “cannot be produced in the U.S., and to establish a process for businesses to “quickly obtain tariff exclusions.”
Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently warned that Donald Trump’s tariff policies have had a “tremendously adverse” impact on the US economy. She cautioned that these measures risk “hobbling” US firms, especially those reliant on critical mineral imports from China.
According to Reuters, US consumer confidence fell in April to an almost five-year low due to growing pessimism about the economy’s prospects, due to tariffs.
While the US struggles to manage the fallout, companies from other countries are striving to strengthen trade ties with China. Tobias Meyer, CEO of major German logistics service provider DHL Group, said that the US’ tariff hikes is creating ample opportunities for closer cooperation between China and the European Union. “We are strong believers in the benefits of free trade,” said Meyer. However, such a system also requires large exporters to open their markets. Against this backdrop, we expect that China’s trade with the global market, excluding the US, will continue to expand,” he added.
According to Diego Rodriguez, Director of Logistics Practice, Americas Market Intelligence, the current Trump administration’s tariff war on China “may accelerate changes in sourcing and inventory strategies for retailers across Latin America.” He posits that as the tariff hikes reduce the flow of Chinese goods into the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Chile will experience an increase in direct trade with China as the gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean. A logistics battle is brewing between Panama’s booming free trade zone and Peru’s Chancay (Port, which opened in November 2024), is set to redefine how goods flow into the region.”
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda and the local chamber of commerce have been in active dialogue, though separately, to find options to address and minimise the looming increase in prices that could flow into the economy due to the Trump administration’s tariff war.
Today (May 3), a new round of auto tariffs, 25% on parts, came into effect. In response to an NBC reporter’s question about the recessionary impact, President Trump replied that it is ” okay if tariffs lead to short-term recession” as part of the transition.
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A response to “China considers Trade talks with the United States”
The author has quite an interesting view of China, however I wish to say this, since I am not beholden to them that the Chinese economy has been for several years now in serious trouble with 30% of that same economy dependent on local real estate sales, and companies such as Evergrande (you can look up the China Evergrande Group, don’t take my word for it) have been unable to find buyers for their buildings, consequently leading to collapses of some real estate companies, and that sector by 2021, that income from which the local governments rely on heavily and has caused serious trouble for China in that sector.
Secondly, China misrepresents virtually all the information which they give out. For example, for over a year they have refused to give out their figures for unemployment in school leavers. Their economy is not buoyant, and has been struggling for some time now, but because they are able to influence gullible countries, misrepresent data to the UN, bribe corrupt hungry nations through their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which in some cases will turn out to be “Debt Traps”, their economy has had the appearance of sustainability. There is more to say about China and how they influenced the IMF, but not now.
Thirdly, China depends hugely on exports. Because labor in China is cheap, a majority of the world’s manufacturing has found a home there. Just how they are able to maintain such low costs is another story, but the USA representing over 40% of China’s market, so one of the American government’s goals with their punitive tariffs on China is to reduce imports from China in particular, and have more American companies manufacture in America. This strategy is so that instead of producing substandard Chinese made products, which many readers will testify are inferior, (they are cheap and do not last long, so you end up buying several) they will be made in America with the type of quality sensible people desire. Discussions on China and its modern-day slavery is for another time.
Fourthly, the tariffs imposed by the USA were especially designed for China, because not only do they lie, but they are bad actors, and do not keep their promises. Under the first Trump administration, the Chinese did not live up to the quota of goods that they promised they would buy from the USA. Even the Biden administration not only kept the Trump tariffs from before but added some of their own.
Fifthly, the Chinese government needs voices that have benefited from the things they offer to plead their causes, that is why they having been offering trips, training, scholarships etc. it is called diplomacy. And they see the good side of China. In reality, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has had a stranglehold on its citizens, who yearn dearly for democracy. Remember Tiananmen Square in June 1989 when thousands of demonstrators, mostly students were killed? Well in China the CCP has removed all references to that event. Prominent protesters in China frequently are made to “disappear”, remember Jack Ma? Again, you can look it up. Sometimes whistleblowers “disappear” forever!
Sixthly, the people live in oppression, so much so that reports which escape the vigilance of the CCP, suggest that there is currently widespread suffering by manufacturers who wish to sell their goods on the American market, and one of the ways that they are able to compete, even though they are substandard, is that the prices are subsidized by the government. That is the government pays the producers one price, while setting lower prices for those goods on the American market, in international trade that is called dumping. This practice is outlawed by the World Trade Organization, (WTO) but China gets away with it.
The seventh point I wish to make is that China for all of the reasons stated above, has become the main manufacturer in the world, and so has vaulted itself into the position of being the second largest economy. It has claimed that it has eliminated poverty a couple years ago, yet it has convinced the WTO to maintain the status of being categorised as “Developing Country”, go figure!
The last point, for now, is that it is the duty of both the government, and any respectable organization like a chamber of commerce, a tourism authority, or a business association to seek to expand trade and trading opportunities, so nothing earth shattering there.
Questions. How much has the world been paid for the disaster that was brought upon us by Covid-19 since 2020? What price do we charge for all the lives lost from the disease in Antigua alone? Do the Chinese want to start paying us? We have not charged any tariffs, as we are mainly an importer. We are getting houses at Booby Alley, we have gotten a bridge, a conference center, the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, an airport, but some of that was before Covid-19. Is that enough?