TMTPOST -- The White House spokesperson on Friday said U.S. President Donald Trump still feels optimistic on the trade deal with China, though cautioned the Chinese government against further retaliation following Beijing’s announcement of new countermeasures. 

Credit：China Central Television

Asked why Trump doesn’t just call Chinese President Xi Jinping and get the ball rolling since he touted his good relationship with Xi, White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt said Trump would be “gracious”  if China intends to make a deal. “If China continues to retaliate, its not good for China,” she added,stressing U.S. is the strongest economy in the world and more than 75 countries have reached out to the nation to seek good deals.

Then pressed if Trump is waiting for China to make the first move, Levitt gave reporters the runaround. “I'm not going to comment on communications that are happening or may not be happening or either way, we'll leave it to our national security team to get these discussions underway,” she said at a press briefing on Friday.

Levitt continued Trump “has made it very clear he's open to a deal with China”, and the president is "optimistic" that an agreement can be reached. The spokesperson reiterated Trump is “optimistic” about the two countries can strike a deal over tariffs later. She said the Trump administration has made very good progress with a country on a deal over the reciprocal tariffs, but declined to reveal “as these negotiations are obviously ongoing.”

Trump on Wednesday first revealed there were 75 countries that have already contacted his government to cut deals in a post when announcing a 90-day pause on his sweeping reciprocal tariffs. Trump said he has authorized a 90-day pause and “a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff” of 10% during this period, both effective immediately. The decision was made because more than 75 countries have reached out to the U.S. to seek a trade deal and these countries have not retaliated against the U.S., Trump posted on his social media Truth Social.

In the same post, Trump said he decided to lift tariffs on China to 125% as Beijing on Wednesday announced it ratcheted up tariffs on U.S. to 84% from 34%. “Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump on Wednesday said in a post on his social media Truth Social.

Trump on Thursday told reporters that he is “resetting the table” with his tariffs on China while stressing his willingness to strike a trade deal with the world’s second largest economy. his good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We’ll see what happens with China. We would love to be able to work a deal. They’ve really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time,” Trump said.

China hasn't suggested any willingness to back down to Trump on tariffs so far. Instead, it stressed its stance again that Beijing will “fight to the end” if Trump sticks to his alleged blackmail.

If the United States is bent on waging a trade war, China will fight to the end, said He Yongqian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Thursday. He called for a return to fair dialogue, stating while China remains open to talks, any talks must be based on mutual respect and conducted on equal footing.

China on Friday slapped higher tariffs on America. China will raise the additional tariffs on products imported from the United States to 125%t, effective from Saturday, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced Friday.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said that even if the United States imposes even higher tariffs, it would no longer make economic sense and ultimately go down as a joke in world economic history.

"Given that it's already impossible for the Chinese market to accept U.S. imports at the current tariff level, if the United States imposes further tariffs on Chinese products, China will ignore it," the commission said.

However, should the United States persist in substantially undermining China's interests, China will take firm countermeasures and fight to the end, the commission added.

"China remains open to consultations with the United States, but believes that threats and pressure are not the correct approaches to engage with China," a MOFCOM spokesperson said, urging the United States to resolve differences with China through dialogue based on mutual respect.