US negotiators in Beijing for trade war talks
BEIJING, China — US negotiators on Monday headed into talks with Chinese counterparts as the two countries seek a deal to end a trade war that has raised fears of global economic turmoil.
The visiting delegation, led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, left its hotel in Beijing without speaking to reporters.
President Donald Trump raised hopes last week that an agreement could be found to end the months-long dispute, during which the world's top two economies have imposed import duties on more than $300 billion of each other's goods.
"I think we will make a deal with China," Trump said on Friday.
"We have a massive trade negotiation going on with China. President Xi (Jinping) is very much involved, so am I. We're dealing at the highest levels and we're doing very well."
Trump on Sunday headed to the US presidential retreat at Camp David, where he said he would discuss a trade deal with China with senior aides, among other issues.
The American delegation in Beijing includes officials from the Treasury, Commerce, Agriculture and Energy departments.
The talks come a month after Trump and Xi agreed to suspend a planned tariff hike for three months to give negotiators space to reach an agreement and end a dispute that has roiled world markets.
The ratcheting dispute has pummelled confidence in China, sending the stock markets tumbling while the yuan has fallen against the dollar.
In addition to the bruising trade war, China is also grappling with a slowing domestic economy, with growth slowing to 6.5 percent in the third quarter, as a battle against debt has ramped up.
The government has set a growth target of around 6.5 percent for 2018, down from 6.9 percent in 2017.
No 'white flag'
The manufacturing sectors in both countries have been hit by the trade dispute, with China's contracting last month for the first time in over two years, according to official data.
But in a sign of how interconnected the two economies are, Apple shares dropped last week after the tech giant reported steeper-than-expected "economic deceleration" in the last quarter in China -- one of its largest overseas markets.
The negotiators will discuss "implementing the important consensus" reached by Trump and Xi in December, China's commerce ministry said last week.
The Beijing talks follow small signs of progress -- and the absence of new threats from Trump -- while the two sides work to ease trade tensions by March 1.
Trump initiated the hostilities because of complaints over unfair Chinese trade practices -- concerns shared by the European Union, Japan and others.
The president has taken heart in China's faltering economy, repeating that it makes Beijing more likely to strike a deal.
An editorial in the nationalist state-owned tabloid the Global Times on Monday said China would not back down and cave to US demands.
"If Beijing had wanted to raise the white flag, it would have done so already," it said.
US President Donald Trump says North American neighbors Canada and Mexico will get no relief from his new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports unless a "new and fair" free trade agreement is signed.
The Trump administration says the tariffs are necessary to preserve the American industries—and that doing so is a national security imperative. But Trump's latest tweets suggest he's also using the upcoming tariffs as leverage in ongoing talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. The latest round of a nearly year-long renegotiation effort is concluding this week in Mexico City. — Associated Press
The United States and China spar over trade issues but promise to keep lines of communication open as Beijing's commerce minister paid a rare visit after a period of soaring tensions.
Minister Wang Wentao met US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade meeting in Detroit, a day after he saw his counterpart Gina Raimondo in Washington.
Tai "discussed the importance of the US-China trade relationship in the global economy and the need for both sides to continue engaging with one another," her office says in a statement. — AFP
The United States is not looking for a new deal in its negotiations with China over trading practices but rather to address practices by Beijing that it finds objectionable, Washington's trade chief says Thursday.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (USTR) is pursuing talks with Beijing over the "phase one" trade agreement the countries signed two years ago, under which China committed to buying $200 billion in American goods through 2021 in exchange for relief from tariffs imposed by then-president Donald Trump.
Tai, who was appointed after President Joe Biden took office last year, tells the Senate Finance Committee her talks with Beijing on its adherence to the deal have been "very difficult."
"I think that we're not necessarily looking at another deal in the next phase, but to expanding out our focus on China's challenges beyond its commitments and compliance in phase one to the issues that were not captured by phase one," she says. — AFP
Trade relations between Washington and Beijing are at a "difficult" stage but President Biden's administration is committed to protecting the US economy from negative impacts of China's policies, the top American trade official says.
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai says her team will "engage robustly" with China in ongoing talks over Beijing's commitments to buy American goods under a deal signed under former president Donald Trump.
"We're in a very difficult stage of this trade relationship," Tai says, adding that "the conversations are not easy." — AFP
China hails a WTO decision allowing it to slap duties on $645 million worth of US imports each year, calling on Washington to follow the ruling and "stop seeking excuses" in a long-running anti-dumping dispute.
But the move by the World Trade Organization does not mean China will automatically impose the tariffs and Beijing stopped short Thursday of announcing any fresh duties.
"We hope the US stops seeking excuses and takes immediate action to correct its wrongdoing in the trade remedy investigation against China," commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng says.
"The WTO ruling once again proves that the US has long violated WTO rules, abused trade remedy measures, and refused to fulfil its international obligations." — AFP
President Joe Biden says his administration is working on removing tariffs on Chinese goods imposed by his predecessor, but Beijing will have to do more to meet its trade commitments.
"We're not there yet," Biden tells reporters when asked about the prospect of ending the tariffs.
At a press conference ahead of the first anniversary of his inauguration, Biden says US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is working on the issue with China but the timing is "uncertain." — AFP
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