Beijing casts doubt on state of trade talks after Trump says it wanted a deal – SCMP

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) carries a story on Tuesday, citing that the Chinese state media editor, as he says that uncertainty prevails on the state of trade talks after the US President Trump said it wanted a deal.

Key Headlines:

“China’s Foreign Ministry contradicted US President Donald Trump’s claim that China had sought a return to the negotiating table.

State media said the countries were in touch only at a “technical level”.

The countries had been due to speak on Tuesday, according to a previous statement from China’s commerce ministry after their last telephone call on August 13.

But there has since been no indication of progress on that front and the Chinese foreign ministry said at a regular briefing on Monday that it was “not aware of the phone calls over the weekend”.

Question marks over the state of the trade talks – whether negotiations were to resume at a high level, and whether China was eager for a deal or Trump had sought to ease markets – remained after the countries exchanged new tariff threats last week, dampening hopes for a trade agreement in the short term.”

A sense of calm prevails across the financial markets so far this Tuesday, as markets await fresh trade-related developments. However, falling US Treasury yields indicate lingering US-China trade tensions remain a concern.