WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Beijing is considering ways to address the Trump administration’s concerns about China’s role in the fentanyl trade, potentially providing an off-ramp from hostilities to allow trade talks to start, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The paper cited unnamed people familiar with the matter as saying that Chinese Minister for Public Security Wang Xiaohong had been inquiring in recent days about what the Trump team wants China to do when it comes to the chemical ingredients used to make the potent drug fentanyl.
The report said part of Beijing’s thinking involved dispatching Wang to the U.S. to meet with senior officials of President Donald Trump’s administration, or to have him meet with U.S. officials in a third country.
It cited the sources as cautioning that the discussions remained fluid and that Beijing would like to see some softening of Trump’s trade offensive against China.
The White House and China’s Washington embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The report came after the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it was evaluating an offer from Washington to hold talks over Trump’s 145% tariffs on China, although it warned the U.S. not to engage in “extortion and coercion.”
Trump has linked the U.S. trade war with China, which has roiled global markets and upended supply chains, to the fentanyl crisis killing large numbers of Americans.
Washington says Chinese chemical manufacturers and exporters provide most precursor chemicals used by drug cartels to produce synthetic opioids, the cause of nearly 450,000 U.S. overdose deaths. China has long defended its tough drug laws and record of cracking down on smugglers, and says the U.S. must get a handle on its own addiction woes.
Trump said on Wednesday he believed there was a “very good chance” his administration could do a deal with China, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping called on officials to take action to adjust to changes in the international environment, without explicitly mentioning the United States.
Sources told Reuters last month that the Trump administration had engaged in direct talks with Chinese counterparts, mostly between the top staff at the Chinese embassy in Washington and the U.S. National Security Council.
However, the sources said the talks had not yielded results and American negotiators have accused the Chinese of failing to negotiate in good faith.
On Friday, the Trump administration ended U.S. duty-free access for low-value shipments from China and Hong Kong, removing the “de minimis” exemptions used by Shein, Temu and other e-commerce firms, as well as by traffickers of fentanyl and other illicit goods.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Franklin Paul and Rod Nickel)
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