China again denied on Monday that a tariff war with the United States is being negotiated after President Donald Trump and his aides made a series of ongoing statements in trade talks.

"Let me make it clear again that China and the United States have not conducted any consultation or negotiations on tariffs," Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference.

Guo also seemed to reject Trump's claims in an interview with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

"As far as I know, there is no phone call between the two presidents."

The latest package of denials is consistent with Beijing's strict stance on Trump's huge tariffs on imports of the top U.S. goods suppliers.

Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, insist that the United States is better in winning the trade war than China.

But business owners and analysts in the U.S. are sending alerts that an effective trade embargo with China could soon have significant economic consequences, including higher prices, product shortages and store closures.

Against this backdrop – Trump recently claimed that his administration would complete a new trade deal with many countries in just three to four weeks – some U.S. officials have expressed more openness to dialogue with Beijing.

"We talk to China every day," Trump Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on CNN on Sunday.

When told the Chinese denied this, Rollins said: “Well, according to our team in Washington, there is a conversation about trade multiples, trade goods that are about to appear and enter.

"The lowest point with China is: they need more than we need," she said.

Asked why China denied that negotiations were underway on Sunday, Becent said: "Well, I think they're playing for different audiences."

He said whether the speech was happening, saying, “We have a process. Again, I just believe these Chinese tariffs are unsustainable.”

Bessent predicted last week that the "reduction" with China is "in the near future".

On Monday morning, he pointed to potential downgrades to help explain why he is not yet worried that American consumers will soon face empty store shelves.

When asked if he was concerned about "empty shelves", Best said on Fox News: "Not at the moment."

"We have some great retailers. I think they booked it. I think we'll see some resilience, I think we'll see alternatives, and then we'll see how fast the Chinese want to slow down."

In a separate interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday morning, Bessent's lowered attitude towards China made him reluctant to negotiate through the press.

China has been asking Trump to call tariffs both a powerful negotiation tool and a way to grab government revenue and eliminate its complete import tax.

A spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce said last week: "If the United States really wants to solve this problem... it should cancel all unilateral measures from China."

The statement, translated from CNBC from Mandarin, itself a response to Trump’s claims on Thursday, saying U.S. and Chinese officials “meeted this morning.”

Trump told reporters: "We have been meeting with China." He refused to designate who was meeting whom.

A day ago, Trump said that U.S. officials were talking to China "actively".