Chinese State Media Confirms US Outreach On Trade Talks While Trump Labels Beijing ‘Chief Ripper-Offer’

China’s state-run media, China Central Television (CCTV), has reportedly confirmed that the U.S. has reached out for tariff negotiations, potentially marking progress after Beijing’s recent assertions that the impasse continues.

Chinese imports now attract a 145% levy after President Donald Trump’s administration announced multiple retaliatory hikes. 

According to Bloomberg, a Weibo account affiliated with CCTV said in a post that the U.S. government has contacted China through various channels. The account cited people familiar with the matter.

The outlet reportedly underplayed China’s need to make the first move in the post, given the pressures the Trump administration currently faces. The U.S. is “clearly the more anxious party at the moment,” it said.

China has repeatedly refuted Trump's claims that the Sino-U.S. dialogues have started and that he spoke to Chinese Premier Xi Jinping on the phone.

In recent remarks, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said, “I would like to reiterate that China and the United States have not conducted any consultations or negotiations on the issue of tariffs."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently clarified that the talks between the two parties on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank conference did not touch upon trade and tariffs.

Bessent also clarified in a separate interview that China must make the first move toward de-escalation of trade tensions.

Separately, Trump reportedly dismissed the impact of U.S.-China trade tensions in a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday.

The president said the U.S. has been ripped off by every country in the world, with China being “the leading… candidate for the ‘chief-ripper-offer,’” CNBC reported.

He was also unperturbed by American consumers facing goods shortage. “Somebody said, ‘oh, the shelves are gonna be empty.’ Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more,” he said.

Trump also said the U.S. may not need much of the products produced in China. 

China, on the other hand, has shown a letup in its stance by exempting select U.S. goods from its 125% import tariffs. A Reuters report, citing sources, said Wednesday that China had prepared a list of U.S.-made products to be exempted from its 125% tariffs and quietly notified companies about the policy.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) have recouped the losses experienced after Trump announced his sweeping tariffs in early April. 

The SPY and QQQ are still down 5% and 6.9%, respectively, for the year, while the iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) has risen 10%.

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