China on Friday said it is assessing recent overtures from the United States to resume negotiations over the ongoing tariff dispute, even as it reiterated its readiness to "fight to the end" if talks fail to materialise.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce confirmed that Washington had "recently, through relevant channels, actively conveyed messages to China, expressing a desire to engage in talks," adding that Beijing is "currently evaluating this."
The development follows reports in Chinese state media earlier this week that the Trump administration had reached out through multiple diplomatic channels to revive dialogue over the sweeping tariffs imposed by both countries.
“The tariff war and trade war were unilaterally initiated by the US, and if the US wants to talk, it should demonstrate sincerity by preparing to correct its erroneous actions and rescind the unilateral imposition of additional tariffs,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
It added that “attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and blackmail” would not be acceptable to Beijing.
The statement underlined China’s consistent stance on the trade standoff, saying, “If there is a fight, we will fight to the end; if there are talks, the door is open.”
The trade war, which began during Trump’s first term, has escalated into a de facto trade embargo between the world's two largest economies, affecting hundreds of billions of dollars in goods and rattling global financial markets.
Trump recently reintroduced and expanded tariffs on Chinese exports, raising duties as high as 145 per cent. Despite this, he has insisted that dialogue with Beijing is underway — a claim that Chinese officials have until now dismissed as "groundless."
On Wednesday, the former US president stated that there was a "very good chance" of reaching a trade deal with China, so long as it was "fair."
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Chinese economy was under significant strain due to the tariffs and suggested that Beijing was now keen to engage.
“The Chinese are reaching out, they want to meet, they want to talk,” Rubio told host Sean Hannity. “We’ve got people involved in that.”
He added that the trade confrontation should serve as a "wake-up call" for the United States to reduce its dependence on China, warning that continued reliance could leave the country economically vulnerable.
Economists and investors are closely monitoring the situation. A prolonged deadlock is feared to have broader implications for the global economy.
The International Monetary Fund last month revised its global growth forecast for 2025 to 2.8 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in January, citing trade tensions as one of the major headwinds. Financial firm JPMorgan Chase, meanwhile, has placed the odds of a US recession this year at 60 per cent.
Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing, said China’s response indicates a conditional openness to resolution.
“They’ve got a lot of tools: tariffs are already in place, but they also have export controls and can launch more probes into US companies,” he told Al Jazeera. “But policymakers also clearly understand that it would be a lot better if they didn’t have to use those tools because there was a de-escalation.”
Steven Okun, CEO of Singapore-based consultancy APAC Advisors, said the reported backchannel communications were not surprising given the economic toll on both sides, but cautioned against interpreting them as formal negotiations.
"Given the interdependence of their economies and the damage being done to both, it's no surprise there's some form of communication," he said. "But calling it a negotiation may be premature."
