China's Cui Tiankai: prefers to resolve trade issues with negotiation - Reuters

As reported by Reuters, the Chinese envoy to the United States, led by Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai, stated that China and the US should avoid a trade war, and that China would prefer to resolve the dispute with a negotiation rather than continuing down the road of reciprocal tariffs.

Key quotes (source: Reuters)

“Negotiation would still be our preference but it takes two to tango,” Cui told reporters after an hour-long meeting at the State Department with Acting U.S. Secretary of State John Sullivan. 

Cui said the meeting covered all aspects of the U.S.-China relationship, which he described as “comprehensive and complex.”

Cui and State Department officials said the meeting had been arranged before Washington announced proposed U.S. tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese products, a move that provoked Chinese retaliation.

A U.S. trade official said on Wednesday the United States may pursue negotiations to resolve deepening differences over trade.

One of the first opportunities for the United States and China to discuss the dispute will be on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting in Washington on April 20-22.