China’s Commerce Ministry: We’re holding out hope for better-than-ever US relations

China would still like to have a close economic relationship with the U.S. despite current trade tensions, the Asian nation’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. “We believe the overall trend (toward deeper exchange) will not reverse,” spokesperson Gao Feng said during a press briefing, according to a CNBC translation. “(We) hope the U.S. and China can look beyond the current situation and realize an even closer economic and trade cooperation with mutual benefits that resonate between the two business communities.” In the last several months, the Trump administration has levied tariffs on an increasing amount of imports from China. The rate of U.S. duties on the latest $200 billion of Chinese goods is also set to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent at the end of the year. China countered with its own tariffs on $60 billion worth of goods from its largest trading partner. That followed tit-for-tat tariffs on $50 billion worth of imports from the other. Read more here