China won’t hold trade talks unless Donald Trump stops threats

China dashed prospects for a near-term resolution to the trade war with the US, warning President Donald Trump his threats of further tariffs are blocking any potential negotiations.

The response, which came just over an hour after the US imposed new duties on $200 billion in Chinese goods on Monday, underscores a deepening gulf between both governments in a dispute that observers say is less about a row over a bilateral goods deficit and increasingly about a US desire to put the brakes on China’s economic ascent.

Trump has repeatedly threatened higher tariffs on the remaining Chinese imports should Beijing retaliate against Monday’s round. As China has said that step is certain, the stage appears set for yet another escalation of the trade war. China cancelled talks that were scheduled for this week, and is digging in by prepping stimulus measures to cushion the economy.


“The door for trade talks is always open but negotiations must be held in an environment of mutual respect,” according to a white paper carried by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Negotiations “cannot be carried out under the threat of tariffs.”

Whichever side is right, the hardening rhetoric is increasingly giving way to actions that are hurting the world economy, Fitch Ratings said in its latest global outlook.

The latest round of US duties took effect just after midnight Washington time on Monday on a list of products ranging from frozen meat to television components. China is poised to retaliate with tariffs on $60 billion in US goods, a move that Trump has said would spur new duties on another $267 billion in Chinese imports.

In announcing the rates for the retaliatory duties last week, the government in Beijing said the tariffs would be effective as of 12:01 p.m. local time on Sept. 24.

If the president follows through on the escalation threat, US tariffs would cover all goods the nation imported from China last year, risking an escalating conflict that could upend the supply chains of multinational companies.