China has highlighted its readiness to negotiate, amidst looming threats of escalating tariffs on its exports to the US. American President, Donald Trump, suggested a 10% hike on duties imposed on Chinese goods could be implemented as early as February 1. Additionally, the White House is planning to launch an investigation into China’s actions that may be detrimental to US trade.

According to He Yadong, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce, there has been ongoing communication with relevant US authorities concerning economic and trade matters. He expressed China’s hope that under the strategic direction of both country’s leaders, the two nations can strengthen their dialogue and communication, manage their differences effectively, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and foster the stable, healthy growth of China-US economic and trade relations.

Last week, Trump revealed he had a phone discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade and the social media app, TikTok. However, China’s official summary of the call did not mention TikTok, but emphasized Xi Jinping’s call for cooperation, portraying the economic ties between the two countries as mutually beneficial.

He Yadong emphasized that tariffs are not beneficial to China, the US, or the world at large. He stated China’s willingness to cooperate with the US to guide bilateral economic and trade relations towards a stable, healthy, and sustainable direction. This, he noted, should be based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.

These sentiments were echoed by China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, who said China is prepared to communicate with the US, manage differences effectively, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and work towards achieving steady, sound, and sustainable development of China-US relations.

Despite the potential imposition of a 10% tariff on China, it is significantly lower than the original 60% that Trump suggested during his campaign. However, after his inauguration, Trump stressed his intentions for a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, with an unspecified figure for China. He hinted that increased duties could be a strategy to force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell social media app TikTok, which is now facing an uncertain future in the US.

In response to queries about TikTok, He Yadong stated that China hopes the US will pay more attention to the voices of businesses and the public and take actions that are beneficial to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.