As trade tensions flared between the world’s largest economies, communication between the United States and China has been so shaky that the two superpowers cannot even agree on whether they are talking at all.

随着全球两大经济体之间的贸易紧张局势持续升级，美中之间的沟通变得极不稳定，这两个超级大国甚至无法就是否正在对话取得共识。

At a White House economic briefing this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demurred multiple times when pressed about President Trump’s recent claim that President Xi Jinping of China had called him. Although top economic officials might usually be aware of such high-level talks, Mr. Bessent insisted that he was not logging the president’s calls.

在白宫上周的一次经济简报会上，当被追问特朗普总统最近声称中国国家主席习近平给他打了电话的说法时，财政部长斯科特·贝森特始终避而不答。尽管高级经济官员通常会知悉此类高层通话，贝森特却坚持说他不负责记录总统的通话。

“I have a lot of jobs around the White House; running the switchboard isn’t one of them,” Mr. Bessent joked.

“我在白宫有很多工作，但接线员不是我的职责，”贝森特打趣道。

But the apparent silence between the United States and China is a serious matter for the global economy.

但美中之间显而易见的沉默对全球经济而言是一个严重的问题。

Markets are fixated on the mystery of whether back-channel discussions are taking place. Although the two countries have not severed all ties, it does seem that they have gone dark when it comes to conversations about tariffs.

市场正在密切关注美中之间是否正在进行幕后磋商的谜团。尽管两国尚未完全断绝联系，但在关税方面的对话似乎确实陷入了沉寂。

“China and the U.S. have not held consultations or negotiations on the issue of tariffs,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a news conference last Friday. “The United States should not confuse the public.”

“中美双方并没有就关税问题进行磋商或谈判，”中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆4月25日在新闻发布会上表示。“美方不要混淆视听。”

However, China’s Commerce Ministry said this Friday that it was now considering holding talks with the Trump administration after repeated attempts by senior U.S. officials to start negotiations. White House and Treasury Department officials did not respond to requests for comment about whether such outreach had occurred.

然而，中国商务部上周五表示，在美方高级官员多次尝试启动谈判之后，正考虑与特朗普政府进行会谈。对于是否如中国所称进行过接触，白宫和财政部官员没有回应置评请求。

The standoff over when and whether Washington and Beijing will hold economic talks comes as the Trump administration is scrambling to reach trade deals with dozens of countries that could soon face high tariffs. On April 2, Mr. Trump imposed what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that he believes have unfair trade and other economic barriers. Those levies, which sent global financial markets plunging, were paused for 90 days to give countries time to reach agreements with the United States.

华盛顿和北京是否以及何时进行经济对话的僵局出现之际，特朗普政府急于与数十个可能面临高额关税的国家达成贸易协议之际。4月2日，特朗普对他认为存在不公平贸易和其他经济壁垒的国家征收所谓“对等”关税。这些关税一度令全球金融市场暴跌，特朗普政府目前已暂停征收对等关税90天，以便这些国家有时间与美国达成协议。

China, which reached a largely unfulfilled trade pact with Mr. Trump during his first term, has indicated that it has little interest in talking about a new agreement until the United States rolls back what it views as a barrage of aggressive and unfair trade measures.

中国曾在特朗普的首个任期内与他达成一项贸易协议，但基本未落实。中国表示，除非美国撤销被其视为一连串咄咄逼人且不公平的贸易措施，否则对讨论新协议兴趣不大。

Mr. Trump increased tariffs on Chinese imports to a minimum of 145 percent last month, in a bid to force China into trade negotiations. Chinese officials responded by issuing their own tariffs on American products and clamping down on exports to the United States of minerals and magnets that are necessary for many industries.

上个月，特朗普将对中国进口商品的最低关税提至145%，试图迫使中国开启贸易谈判。中国官员则以对美国产品加征关税，并限制对美出口关键矿物和磁铁的方式回应，这些原料对许多行业至关重要。

The economic toll of the tit for tat is starting to become clear. The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its growth outlook for both countries and the world, warning that the tariffs had made a downturn more likely. Government data released this week showed Chinese factory activity slowing in April and first-quarter growth in the United States weakening.

双方针锋相对带来的经济代价已开始显现。国际货币基金组织上月下调了对中美两国及全球经济的增长预期，并警告关税增加了经济下行的可能性。政府上周公布的数据还显示，中国4月份制造业活动放缓，美国第一季度增长也有所减弱。

During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday at the White House, Mr. Trump acknowledged that children in the United States may wind up with fewer dolls that cost more. But he insisted that he would continue to push for a “fair deal” with China, which he described as the “leading candidate for the chief ripper-offer.”

在周三白宫举行的一次内阁会议上，特朗普承认，美国儿童拥有的娃娃可能会变得更少且更贵。但他坚称会继续争取与中国达成一个“公平的协议”，他称中国是“头号贸易剥削者”。

The Trump administration is focused on trade deals with about 18 of America’s most important trading partners that are subject to the reciprocal tariffs. Mr. Bessent indicated that talks with China would operate on a separate track from the other negotiations.

特朗普政府正集中精力与大约18个受对等关税影响的美国主要贸易伙伴进行协议谈判。贝森特表示，与中国的谈判将与其他谈判分开进行。

The Treasury secretary is expected to take the lead on the China negotiations while Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, oversees most of the other talks. However, Mr. Trump has not formally appointed or authorized a U.S. official to negotiate on his behalf with China, leaving Chinese officials to believe that the Trump administration is not ready or serious about trade talks.

财政部长预计将牵头与中国的谈判，而商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克则负责大多数其他谈判。然而，特朗普尚未正式任命或授权任何美国官员代表他与中国进行谈判，这让中方官员认为特朗普政府尚未做好贸易谈判的准备，或缺乏诚意。

2017年，特朗普与习近平在北京会面。习近平没有在与特朗普的关税对抗中退却。

Mr. Bessent, who had an introductory call with his Chinese counterpart in February, said that he held informal talks with Chinese officials over issues such as financial stability during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank last week. He said that they spoke about more “traditional things” but did not say that trade was discussed. The Treasury Department did not issue a summary of any meetings with Chinese officials.

贝森特曾在2月与中国对等官员进行过初步通话，他表示，在上周国际货币基金组织和世界银行春季会议期间，他就金融稳定等问题与中方官员进行了非正式交流。他表示，双方谈论的多是“常规”议题，但未提及是否讨论了贸易问题。财政部也没有发布与中方官员的会谈纪要。

In an interview with Fox News this week, Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, said that he met virtually for over an hour with his Chinese counterpart before April 2 but that there had been no talks since Mr. Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs.

在上周接受福克斯新闻采访时，美国贸易代表贾米森·格里尔表示，他曾在4月2日之前与中国对等官员进行了一个多小时的视频会谈，但自从特朗普宣布“解放日”关税以来，双方再无对话。

Mr. Trump has suggested that Mr. Xi should call him to begin the talks personally, noting their strong personal relationship. But that is not how China typically handles important economic matters. The United States and China traditionally work out their economic differences through a structured dialogue with formal meetings and working groups led by a top economic official from each country.

特朗普曾暗示习近平应该亲自给他打电话以开启谈判，并强调双方私交不错。但这并非中国处理重大经济事务的惯常方式。美中传统上通过结构性对话解决经济分歧，即由双方高级经济官员牵头，通过正式会议和工作小组进行磋商。

“This very personalistic approach by President Trump, who wants to negotiate directly with President Xi, doesn’t match with the Chinese system at all,” said Craig Allen, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. “In the Chinese system, these things are carefully negotiated in advance, they go up multiple channels and it is highly controlled and scripted, and when it gets to the leader stage it is highly choreographed.”

“特朗普想要直接与习近平谈判，他这种高度个人化的方式完全不符合中国的体制，”亚洲协会政策研究所中国分析中心的研究员克雷格·艾伦表示。“在中国的体制中，这类事务需要事先经过缜密谈判，经过多个渠道层层汇报，而且整个过程受到严格控制和安排，当到达领导人层面时，一切都已精心策划好。”

During Mr. Trump’s first term, the president initially assigned the Treasury secretary at the time, Steven T. Mnuchin, to lead trade delegations to China. He later appointed Robert E. Lighthizer, his trade representative, who was viewed as more hawkish, to oversee the talks.

在特朗普第一任期内，他最初指派当时的财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦领导对华贸易代表团。后来，他又任命了立场更为强硬的贸易代表罗伯特·莱特希泽来负责谈判。

Veterans of that trade war believe the current deadlock could be more protracted because the tariffs are higher and both sides believe they are winning. If U.S. growth continues to slow while prices start to rise, it could add to the urgency for Mr. Trump to get real talks with China going.

曾参与那轮贸易战的资深人士认为，目前的僵局可能会拖延更久，因为这一次关税水平更高，且双方都认为自己正在占据上风。如果美国经济增长持续放缓，同时物价开始上涨，可能会加剧特朗普与中国开启实质性谈判的紧迫性。