Trump refutes China's claim of no trade talks

By Jeff Mason and Jarrett Renshaw

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump asserted on Thursday that trade talks between the U.S. and China are underway, pushing back against Chinese claims that no discussions have taken place to ease the ongoing trade war.

"They had a meeting this morning," Trump told reporters, declining to say to whom he was referring. "It doesn't matter who 'they' is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we've been meeting with China."

China on Thursday said it had not held trade talks with Washington despite repeated comments from the U.S. government suggesting there had been engagement.

"China and the United States have not conducted consultations or negotiations on tariffs, let alone reached an agreement," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at a news briefing, calling reports of such information "false news."

A White House official said lower level in-person talks as well as a phone call between U.S. and Chinese staff had taken place this week.

The conflicting statements from Washington and Beijing underscore the strained communication and uncertainty defining the current trade war, adding volatility to global markets and prolonging economic pain on both sides.

American businesses face soaring import costs while Chinese exporters are squeezed by falling U.S. demand.

Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week indicated there might be an easing in tensions with China.

On Wednesday, Bessent said excessively high tariffs between the U.S. and China will have to come down before trade negotiations can proceed and that de-escalation was necessary for the world's two largest economies to rebalance their trading relationship.

The White House earlier this month imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to respond with duties of its own and increased restrictions on critical minerals exports to the United States.

(Reporting By Jeff Mason, Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose; Editing by Leslie Adler and Diane Craft)

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