China disputes reports of $200B trade offer to US

Chinese officials are pushing back on reports from a Trump administration official that the country has offered a trade package to slash the country’s trading deficit with the U.S. by $200 billion.

Reuters reports that China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters on Friday that reports that China had offered U.S. officials the package during negotiations in Washington this week were inaccurate.

{mosads}

“This rumor is not true. This I can confirm to you,” Lu Kang said Friday. “As I understand, the relevant consultations are ongoing and they are constructive.”

The $200 billion package was part of a list of demands the Trump administration presented China with earlier this month at trade negotiations between top Chinese officials and U.S. trade officials led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

 The demands also call for China to stop subsidizing key industries and “not oppose, challenge or otherwise retaliate” when the U.S. moves to restrict Chinese influence in sensitive economic sectors.

China also announced Friday that it was ending an investigation into alleged U.S. sorghum dumping, which had halted a $1.1 billion global market for the grain last year.

Trump has downplayed the possibility of a “trade war” with China, which he has said in the past would be “easy” to win. But his administration’s inability to reach an agreement with China amid escalating tariffs on both sides has led to fears from experts that a global conflict could be around the corner.

“Both sides realized that there are still relatively big differences over some issues and that they need to continue to work hard to make more improvements,” China’s state media said in early May.