Trump says China contacted U.S. to discuss tariffs
The president also stated that he thinks Washington and Beijing will reach a trade-tariff agreement.
File image of Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping
President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that China contacted the US to discuss tariffs imposed mutually in recent weeks.
Without giving too much detail, President Trump suggested there is a possibility that the world's two largest economies could reach a deal to end the tariff war.
"Yeah, we're talking to China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I would say they have reached out a number of times."
During the press conference, the U.S. president confirmed that talks had begun since he ordered tariffs on China raised to a historic 145%, a move that has caused uncertainty and instability in markets around the globe.
When asked whether he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump was more evasive, suggesting that the call did go ahead but that it was not prudent to confirm whether it did or did not.
Prior to that press conference, Trump received at the White House Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who arrived in Washington as a European spokeswoman for a meeting focused on ending U.S. tariffs on the European Union.
Trump, who was very complimentary of Meloni, also said he was enthusiastic about a trade-tariff deal with the Asian giant: "I think we're going to make a very good deal with China."
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