Washington should lift tariffs if it is sincere in its desire to negotiate with China, China's Ministry of Commerce said.
“The tariffs and trade war were initiated unilaterally by the United States“, the ministry said in a statement. “If the United States wants to negotiate, it must demonstrate its sincerity and be ready to take steps to correct its wrongdoings and lift unilateral tariffs.
The agency noted that “recently, the United States has been constantly discussing the issue of tariff adjustment“. According to the Commerce Department, if Washington does not correct its wrongdoings during possible negotiations, "it will mean that the United States is completely insincere and this will further undermine the trust of the parties in each other."
“Say one thing and do another, try to force or blackmail under the guise of negotiations - this will not work with us,” the department said.
On April 2, Trump announced the introduction of tariffs on goods from 185 countries and territories. The total US tariffs on goods from China reach 145%. In response to the actions of the Trump administration, China raised tariffs on US goods to 125% on April 12.