BERLIN, April 5 (Xinhua) -- To ease trade tensions between the United States and China, a German business leader is calling for talks among all parties involved.

Martin Wansleben, chief executive of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is suggesting direct talks among China, the United States as well as the European Union (EU) to work on common trade rules within the World Trade Organization for maintaining a good and fair world trade.

"It's important to get all the involved parties to the table," he told the media Thursday, adding that the goal should be to strengthen trust through new trade agreements.

Imposing new tariffs is "an economic dead end", he said. Growth and welfare are based on cooperation.

"The economies of China and the United States have been intertwined heavily for a long time, so it's impossible to introduce any protective trade measures without hurting the two economies or the world economy," Wansleben pointed out.

He added that new tariffs and trade barriers not only inflict additional costs on companies and consumers but also hurt innovation. The United States, China, as well as Germany need global know-how to develop and new products to emerge. No country can afford to reject innovative products from other countries, he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to consider slapping 100 billion U.S. dollars of additional tariffs on China, ratcheting up trade tensions and plunging economic growth into uncertainty.