China’s foreign minister says ‘tariffs won’t resolve problems’

U.S.-China trade talks hit a snag when President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods — just as an agreement had been said to be “possible” by this Friday.

While Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is still set to join a delegation of Chinese negotiators this week in Washington, the latest development between the world’s largest economies has rekindled concerns about the global growth outlook.

Tariffs won't resolve any problems in the ongoing bilateral trade dispute between China and the United States, China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, speaking at a daily press briefing, said China hopes that the United States will work with China to resolve each other's concerns.

Also, according to the vice president of a Beijing-based think tank, there is still room for China to “maneuver around the headwinds created by the U.S. trade war” — including if the Trump institutes his threatened tariff increase.

“The trade war really has a negative impact on the Chinese economy — there is no denying of that,” Victor Gao of the Center for China and Globalization said on Tuesday.

“However, how much that impact is and whether China as a whole can come up with ways to overcome the impact, that’s another thing,” he added. “China is still enjoying 6% to 6.5% GDP growth, which is more than double the GDP growth of the United States.”