Despite the recent escalation in the trade dispute with the US, China wants to continue to negotiate. US President Trump had surprisingly threatened to increase the tariffs on Chinese imports by the end of this week.
China has announced its intention to hold scheduled trade talks with the US. This was announced by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. The talks to resolve the dispute are scheduled to take place Wednesday in Washington. US President Donald Trump had yesterday surprisingly threatened to increase the tariff on Chinese imports end already at the end of this week.
China reacts calmly
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang is not necessarily known for his humorous dealings with the press. But even he had to smile several times that afternoon in Beijing. Time and again, international journalists wanted to know from him whether anyone from Beijing would go to the trade talks in Washington – or not. And who exactly, and how many. But there were no exact details.
„The next round of trade talks is being watched with great interest, both domestically and abroad,“ said Geng Shuang. There are many international comments. „We’re trying to get an idea of the situation, and what I can tell you here is that the Chinese negotiating team is preparing for talks in the US.“
But whether the negotiations begin as planned on Wednesday, whether Vice-Premier Liu He as planned leads the delegation and whether you can expect this week – as hoped – with a compromise: nothing. Just a smile. And a reference to having to ask the responsible authorities. But what is a mysterious reference in China, because with the responsible authorities in a strictly authoritarian one-party state is such a thing.
Speculation about call termination
Earlier, US media had speculated that China was considering canceling the negotiations. The reason: US President Trump had yesterday announced surprisingly to increase the already applicable special tariffs on imports of goods from China from Friday to ten to 25 percent. Commenting on the threat, spokesman Geng Shuang commented casually: „Similar situations have happened several times before, the position of the Chinese side is constant and clear, the US knows our attitude.“ The trade talks between China and the US have taken place ten times so far, „and we made good progress.“
So at least the view of the Chinese. US President Trump seemed to rate that – at least yesterday – differently. Or he is just about to build a maximum threat. His announcement yesterday of another tariff increase from Friday was to be understood as a warning, said Larry Kudlow, economic adviser to US President Trump.
A warm shooting so before the new round of negotiations. In any case, share prices in China fell today. The leading index in Shenzhen minus 7.6 percent. The Shanghai minus 5.6 percent.
It remains complicated
One thing is clear: an agreement in the trade dispute must, from the point of view of the Americans, receive structural changes in the Chinese economy. However, since this is extremely difficult, it has not yet been enough for a commercial contract or just for key points.
Since July last year, the two largest economies in the world have been subject to special tariffs. The US has already levied higher duties on almost half of all imports from China. They complain about inadequate market access, technology theft and unfair competitive conditions for foreign companies. US President Trump also wants to reduce the huge trade deficit with China.
