A top Chinese official has been asking what the Trump administration wants Beijing to do about the chemicals used to make the deadly drug fentanyl, in a possible sign that the trade war between the world’s two largest economies is thawing.
Wang Xiaohong, China’s minister of public security, has been making inquiries over the last few days, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The outlet added that Wang could soon meet face to face with administration officials, either in the US or a third country.
The report emerged hours after China’s commerce ministry said it was “evaluating” an offer to hold talks over President Trump’s tariffs, which have reached 145% on some goods.
“The US has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China,” the statement said, adding that Beijing was “evaluating this.”
“Attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and extortion would not work,” it added.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network earlier this week that “I am confident that the Chinese will want to reach a deal. And as I said, this is going to be a multi-step process. First, we need to de-escalate, and then … we will start focusing on a larger trade deal.”
On Wednesday, the president himself said there was a “very good chance” he could strike a deal with China — even as he blasted one of the US’ top trade partners.
“We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world, but China, I would say, is the leading one, the leading candidate for the chief ripper-offer,” he said.
In February, Trump, 78, imposed an initial 10% tariff on Chinese goods, citing the “national emergency” of the fentanyl crisis, in a bid to get Beijing to crack down on the flow of so-called “precursor chemicals” from China to cartels in the West.
That was later hiked to 125% for reciprocal duties and a 20% rate just for the fentanyl demands.
China’s commerce ministry in February had dismissed the deadly synthetic opioid as “America’s problem.”
“The Chinese side has carried out extensive anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States and achieved remarkable results,” it said.
But enough fentanyl has already been seized so far this year by the feds to kill as many as 122 million Americans, around a third of the country, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The chemical components for the drug are often shipped to Mexico, another key US trading partner previously hit with tariffs, before being cooked up by the cartels and other traffickers into one of the most potent drugs on the market.
Amid the trade standoff, China’s shipping to the US has taken a roughly 50% dive, prompting fears of a recession in the coming months.
