Beijing has responded to Trump’s tariff hikes by raising its own duties on imports of US products to as high as 125 percent

Trump said in a U.S. media interview published last Friday that his administration was talking with China to reach a tariff deal and that China's President Xi Jinping had called him. Beijing last week repeatedly denied such talks were taking place, accusing Washington of "misleading the public".

After three months of bluster and huge tariffs on both sides, Beijing and the Trump administration are softening their language on holding negotiations.