Beijing, China - China on Friday slapped 125% tariffs on imports from the US but said Beijing would simply ignore future levies from Washington, as President Donald Trump indicated a willingness to make a deal.

Beijing dismissed Trump's repeated tariff hikes as a "joke" and a "numbers game" as the US continued to unleash turbulence on the markets despite Wednesday's decision to give up on a global trade war.

When all accounted for, Trump's trade war with China has seen tariffs reach a mind-boggling 145%, based mostly on Beijing's claims of disrespect and economic disadvantage imposed by the US.

Understandably, Beijing reacted by levying its own series of tariffs on US imports into China, warning well ahead of time that while they were willing to negotiate with Washington, they would "fight to the end" if such efforts failed.

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China also lodged multiple complaints against the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming that the Trump administration has broken international rules on trade and acted unlawfully.

"The United States' imposition of round upon round of abnormally high tariffs on China has become a numbers game with no practical significance in economics," said a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce.

"If the US continues to play the tariff numbers game, China will ignore it," the spokesperson said.

Even as tariffs continue to skyrocket in a tit-for-tat war with China, Trump used a Cabinet meeting to announce that he'd be willing to hold talks with Beijing about a potential trade deal.

The comments are strikingly at odds with Washington's position on China – the world's second-largest economy – since Trump was inaugurated in January.

Despite suggesting early on that he had a good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump has not met with him in the months since he took office and has repeatedly escalated his aggressive rhetoric towards Beijing.

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"What happens with China?" Trump asked during the cabinet meeting, which was open to the press. "We would love to be able to work a deal."

"They've really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time," he said, before divulging into a word salad. "They have ripped us off beyond anybody, nobody, how people stood for... sitting in my position is not even believable."

"We're talking about many presidents, not just a couple, but they did – and what we're doing is putting it back in shape, we're resetting the table," he continued.

"I'm sure that we'll be able to get along very well. I've got great respect for President Xi... He's been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think we'll end up working out something that's very good for both countries."