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China Denies It Made A $200 Billion Trade Offer To The US

The denial comes after outlets reported U.S. officials said China had agreed to buy $200 billion worth of American goods.
Posted at 8:24 AM, May 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-18 08:24:29-04

China's foreign ministry said the country did not offer to slash its trade deficit with the U.S. by $200 billion.

"These rumors are not true," a ministry spokesman said at a news briefing Friday.

On Thursday, multiple outlets reported that U.S. officials said China would buy that amount in American goods to help the offset. President Donald Trump has demanded that China reduce its trade deficit by $200 billion by the end of 2020.

Officials from the two countries have been trying to find a solution to their back-and-forth tariff battle. China and the U.S. have already threatened to hit the other with tens of billions of dollars worth of tariffs.

China did extend an olive branch to the U.S. on Friday, saying it's dropping an anti-dumping investigation into U.S. imports of sorghum.

In April, China began charging U.S. companies an almost 179 percent deposit on shipments of the grain as part of the probe. Chinese officials now say the investigation is not in line with the public interest.