United States President Donald Trump on Sunday said that China has asked to restart trade talks, Bloomberg reported. “China called last night our trade people and said let’s get back to the table,” Trump said on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France. “They understand how life works.”

Trump said that the United States will accept the Chinese offer and return to dialogue. However, he also said that he could turn the escalating trade war into a national emergency. “I could declare a national emergency, I think when they steal and take out and intellectual property theft anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion a year and when we have a total lost of almost a trillion dollars a year for many years,” he said, according to CNBC.

“We are willing to solve the problem through consultation and cooperation with a calm attitude,” China’s top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, had said at the opening ceremony of 2019 Smart China Expo in Chongqing. “We firmly oppose the escalation of the trade war.” Liu said China welcomes all foreign investors, including those from the United States.

On Friday, China had announced tariffs worth $75 billion on US goods and resumed duties on cars and auto parts originating from America.

Trump had earlier this month pledged to impose 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese imports from September 1. The two countries have been engaged in a trade war for the last one-and-a-half years.