US, China to hold fresh trade talks
Washington’s invitation for dialogue comes amid chorus of opposition to tariffs; White House offers no guarantees
China said on Thursday that it welcomed an invitation by the United States to hold a new round of trade talks, as Washington prepares to further escalate the USChina trade war with tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
The Trump administration had invited Chinese officials to restart trade talks, the White House’s top economic adviser said on Wednesday, news that gave a lift to Asian stocks, including Chinese shares and the yuan currency.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China welcomed the invitation, and the two countries were discussing the details.
“China has always held that an escalation of the trade conflict is not in anyone’s interests. In fact, from last month’s preliminary talks in Washington, the two sides’ trade talk teams have maintained various forms of contact, and held discussions on the concerns of each side,” he said.
Larry Kudlow, who heads the White House Economic Council, told Fox Business Network that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had sent an invitation to senior Chinese officials, but he declined to provide further details.
“There’s some discussions and information that we received that the Chinese government wished to pursue talks,” Kudlow said. “And so, Secretary Mnuchin, who is the team leader with China, has apparently issued an invitation.”
Two people familiar with the effort said Mnuchin’s invitation was sent to his Chinese counterparts, including Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic adviser to Chinese President Xi Jinping, for talks in coming weeks, with the time and the venue still to be agreed.
Ameeting among Cabinet-level officials could ease market worries over the escalating tariff war that threatens to engulf all trade between the world’s two largest economies and raise costs for companies and consumers.
“I think most of us think it’s better to talk than not to talk, and I think the Chinese government is willing to talk,” Kudlow earlier told reporters outside the White House.
But Kudlow was non-committal over the chances of a breakthrough. “I guarantee nothing.”
The last talks, between mid-level US and Chinese officials on August 22 and 23, failed to reach any agreement.
So far, the United States and China have hit $50 billion worth of each other’s goods with tariffs in a dispute over US demands that China make sweeping economic policy changes, including ending joint venture and technology transfer policies, rolling back industrial subsidy programs and better protecting American intellectual property.
The Trump administration is preparing to activate tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, hitting a broad array of internet technology products and consumer goods from handbags to bicycles to furniture.
US President Donald Trump said last week that he also had tariffs on an additional $267 billion worth of goods ready “on short notice if I want.”