U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he believes that excessively high tariffs between the U.S. and China will have to come down before trade negotiations can proceed but said President Donald Trump would not unilaterally cut tariffs on Chinese imports.

Stock futures were dropping Thursday, with investors still trying to make sense of the U.S.-China trade war after Chinese officials denied reports that the world's two largest economies have started tariff negotiations.