BEIJING — China is stressing its willingness to negotiate as additional tariffs on U.S. exports could soon become a reality.

U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that he may impose 10% tariffs on Chinese goods as early as February 1. The White House also announced on Monday plans to investigate China's actions that harm U.S. commerce.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong responded on Thursday that China's Ministry of Commerce has been in communication with "relevant" departments in the United States on economic and trade issues.

China hopes that both sides, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state... will strengthen dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the stable and healthy development of Sino-US economic and trade relations," he added at a weekly press conference. This is according to CNBC Translation of his Mandarin remarks.

Trump said last week that he had a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss TikTok and trade. The Chinese statement did not mention the social media app but said Xi Jinping called for cooperation and viewed the economic relationship between the two countries as mutually beneficial.

"Tariffs are not good for China, not good for the United States, and not good for the entire world," said Mr. He, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce.

China is willing to work with the United States to promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations in a stable, healthy and sustainable direction on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

The comments echo those made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Tuesday.

When asked about tariff negotiations, Mao Zedong said: "We are willing to maintain communication with the United States, properly handle differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of Sino-U.S. relations."

"China will also firmly defend its interests," she said. This is based on the official English transcript.

Even a 10% tariff on China would be far lower than the 60% tariff initially proposed by Trump during his campaign.

Hours after taking office on Monday, Trump reiterated his plan to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but did not specify a specific number on China. He said only that increased tariffs could force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell social media app TikTok, whose future availability in the United States is now in doubt.

When asked about TikTok on Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Jiankui said China "hopes the U.S. will listen more to the voices of businesses and the public" and "do more that is conducive to Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation" and the well-being of the people. "