LEADERS TALK TOUGH AS TRADE WAR LOOMS LARGE
Trump claims showdown is bringing required results
Beijing, March 24: The US and China’s top economic officials agreed by phone on Saturday to “continue to communicate” on trade issues, Chinese state media said, as US President Donald Trump pledged his escalating trade showdown would get results despite pushback from Europe and Beijing.
Liu He, the Chinese vice premier in charge of the economy, told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday that Beijing was “ready to defend its national interests”, but hoped that “both sides will remain rational and work together,” according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.
He also accused a US probe into Chinese intellectual property practices of violating international trade rules.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe would respond “without weakness” to Washington's threats of tariffs on steel and aluminium.
“Nothing sho-uld be addressed when it is with a gun to your head,” he said at the end of an EU summit in Brussels.
Meanwhile, WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo called for cooler heads to prevail, saying that new trade barriers would “jeopardise the global economy”.
However, speaking to reporters on Friday as he signed new budget legislation, Trump said his efforts were beginning to bear fruit. European and US trade officials said this week they were beginning talks to reach a compromise.
“Many other countries are now negotiating fair trade deals with us,” Trump said Friday. “Part of the reason, frankly, that we’re able to do that is the fact that we have tariffs on steel and the tariffs on aluminium.”
The United States had a record $375.2 billion goods trade deficit with China last year. Senior White House economic advisor Eve-rett Eissenstat said on Thursday the new US import duties would target sectors where “China has sought to acquire an advantage through the unfair acquisition or forced technology transfer from United States companies.”
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer indicated the industries could include aerospace, maritime and rail transport equipment, and new energy vehicles.
Mr Trump’s order also directs the US Treasury to develop new proposals to increase safeguards against Chinese investments in the US that could compromise national security.
Beijing on Friday unveiled a hit list of products that could face duties of up to 25 per cent, from fresh fruit to pork and wine, though it stopped short of pulling the trigger as it indicated its readiness to negotiate an agreement. China’s commerce ministry warned that a 15 per cent tariff on 120 goods worth almost $1 billion — including fresh fruit, nuts and wine — would be imposed if the US fails to reach a “trade compensation agreement” within an unspecified time frame.
In a second step, a 25 per cent tariff would be imposed on eight goods totalling nearly $2 billion, including pork and aluminium scrap, after “further evaluating the impact of the US measures on China.
China had said that it does not want to fight a trade war, but it is absolutely not afraid of a trade war.