China Ready to Boost US Imports to Avoid 'Hurdles' for Global Economy to Recover

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday it did not want to escalate trade frictions with the United States, which threatened to slow down global economic recovery.

"Beijing does not want an escalation of trade frictions with the US," ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters, adding that China was ready to increase US imports if they agreed on mutual concessions.

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He pointed to turbulence that recent US duties on imports from the EU nations, Mexico and Canada had caused and warned about the policy’s impact on the world economy.

"The global economy is recovering from the financial crisis," he said. "China does not want to see unilateral trade protectionism and restrictive measures… lead to new hurdles for recovery."

President Donald Trump has made the goal of reducing US trade deficit a central part of his economic policy. In April, the country’s trade deficit with China stood at $30.8 billion.

The US-China imbalance was addressed last weekend at talks between US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China’s Vice Premier Liu He. China’s Commerce Ministry said afterwards that any deal would be non-binding force if Washington imposed tariffs on Chinese imports.