Did they or didn’t they?
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping ‘many times’ but did not say if any of those communications took place since he imposed stiff tariffs on the communist nation.
Asked for details about those communications, Trump responded by saying ‘I’ll let you know at the appropriate time.’
Trump’s latest comments, which took place before he boarded Marine One to travel to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral, come after days of back and forth between the countries over whether they are in direct talks about reducing the tariffs – and whether Trump and Xi have spoken directly to one another since the tariffs were rolled out.
Trump’s tariffs on China, which have rattled global stock markets and upended supply chains, have ballooned to 145% while China has responded by slapping a 125% tariff on its U.S. imports.
In a newly published TIME article published Friday morning, Trump is quoted as saying that Xi personally called him to discuss trade matters.
‘. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,’ Trump is quoted as saying, without providing specifics about the timing or content of the call.
When asked what Xi said, Trump sidestepped his response by saying ‘We all want to make deals. But I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.’
‘You have to understand, I’m dealing with all the companies, very friendly countries,’ he said, when asked about trade adviser Peter Navarro, saying 90 deals in 90 days is possible. ‘We’re meeting with China. We’re doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I’ve made all the deals.’
The TIME interview took place on Tuesday, with Trump saying publicly on the same day that things were going ‘fine with China’ and that the final tariff rate on Chinese exports would come down ‘substantially’ from the current 145%.
Trump also told reporters earlier in the week that ‘everything’s active’ when asked if he was engaging with China, although his treasury secretary had said there were no formal negotiations.
Those comments led to Beijing on Thursday denying any suggestion that it was in active negotiations with the administration.
Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing on Thursday that, ‘For all I know, China and the U.S. are not having any consultation or negotiation on tariffs, still less reaching a deal.’
‘China’s position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,’ Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said.
Asked Thursday about China denying there were any conversations ongoing with the United States, Trump said, ‘We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China,’ before adding, ‘it doesn’t matter who they is.’
Trump said Tuesday that the hefty tax rate of 145% Americans must currently pay for Chinese imports will likely be reduced significantly.
While Trump said the rate ‘won’t be zero,’ he expressed optimism over a potential trade deal with China.
‘One hundred forty-five percent is very high, and it won’t be that high,’ Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office. ‘It will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.’
Fox News’ Greg Norman, Bonny Chu and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.