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Face-to-face trade negotiations resumed this week between representatives of the United States and China for the first time since President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to restart talks in June. U.S.
U.S.-China tensions persist ahead of G20 summit
The United States has significantly ratcheted up its trade war with China in recent weeks by firing two new shots. First, President Trump signed an executive order that is expected to restrict Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE Corp. from selling their equipment and services in the United States.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin concluded the 10th round of U.S.-China trade talks with Vice Premier Liu He on May 1. President Trump initially cast the negotiations as a success, but then tweeted on Sunday that he would raise the tariff rate on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent by week’s end.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin revealed last week on CNBC that U.S. and Chinese negotiators have reached agreement on an “enforcement mechanism” as part of negotiations over a bilateral trade deal. Mnuchin specified that both sides “will establish enforcement offices that will deal” with matters of compliance.
Last week, American and Chinese officials held trade talks in Beijing over a five-day period. From Feb. 11 to Feb. 13, a lower-level American delegation, led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, focused on “technical details” and on the question of enforcement of any possible trade agreement. Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 saw high-level talks between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Rep.
On Jan. 28, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled two sweeping indictments against Huawei. At a press conference, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker first discussed the 10-count indictment unsealed in the Western District of Washington.
Last week, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He met with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer in the latest in a series of high-level conversations designed to de-escalate trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The vice premier, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, has a reputation as an economic reformer interested in liberalizing China’s economy, which provides some hope that the parties will finally resolve the simmering trade war.
The meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires kicked off a slew of activity on the trade war front. On Dec. 1, the two leaders agreed to a 90-day truce during which the United States would delay plans to increase tariffs to 25 percent from ten percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
This is the fourth post in a series. Read the first three parts here, here and here.