Xi gets tougher on Trump after new tariff threat

‘The downside risk of no deal has increased’

BEIJING, Aug 13, (AP): Facing another US tariff hike, Chinese President Xi Jinping is getting tougher with Washington instead of backing down.

Beijing fired what economists called a “warning shot” at Washington by letting its yuan currency weaken in response to President Donald Trump’s latest threat of more punitive import duties on Sept 1. Chinese buyers canceled multibillion-dollar purchases of US soybeans. Regulators are threatening to place American companies on an “unreliable entities” list that might face curbs on their operations.

Both sides have incentives to settle a trade war that is battering exporters on either side of the Pacific and threatening to tip the global economy into recession. But Xi’s government is lashing out and might be, in a revival of traditional Chinese strategy, settling in for prolonged wrangling in response to what it deems American bullying and attempts to handicap China’s economic development.

Negotiators are to meet in September in Washington, but China’s political calendar makes progress unlikely. The ruling Communist Party is preparing to celebrate its 70th anniversary in power on Oct 1 - a nationalismdrenched milestone that puts pressure on Xi, the party leader, to look tough.

“The downside risk of no deal has increased,” said Raoul Leering, chief trade analyst for Dutch bank ING.

Six months ago, Chinese negotiators were discussing possible concessions including more purchases of American farm goods, market opening and changes in business rules. But by May, Chinese leaders had turned skittish in the face of what they saw as constantly shifting American priorities on a list of demands that range from narrowing their trade surplus to opening markets to possibly scrapping their economic development strategy.

Down

Talks broke down in May over how to enforce any settlement. Beijing says once it takes effect, Trump has to lift punitive 25% tariffs imposed on $250 billion of Chinese imports. Washington insists the tariffs stay to enforce compliance because Beijing has broken too many past promises.

The tone of Chinese state media toward Trump, relatively mild to that point, turned nasty. The ruling Communist Party newspaper accused Washington of “American bullyism.”

“Good faith broke down and we took many steps backward,” said Bryan Mercurio, a former Canadian trade official and law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Despite a June agreement by Trump and Xi for more negotiation, neither has shown willingness to compromise. A round of talks in Shanghai last month ended with no sign of progress.

Trump says Beijing needs a deal more than he does. On paper, he is right. Their lopsided trade balance means American demand contributes four times as much to Chinese economic activity as China’s purchases provide for the United States.

But Trump’s demand for changes to Beijing’s industrial policy strikes at the heart of a development strategy Communist leaders see as the basis of their economic success and a path to prosperity and global influence.

That includes initiatives to transform China into a global competitor in profitable technologies through nurturing champions in robotics, electric cars and other fields with subsidies and shielding them from competition.

Pressuring

Washington, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say those violate Chinese market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring companies to hand over technology. Chinese officials retort that they are entitled to develop higher-value industries and have tried to deflect criticism by saying foreign companies might be allowed a role.

Chinese leaders insist on “maintaining their system of economic development. They can’t have that crumble,” said Mercurio.

Chinese suspicions deepened when, after the May talks, Trump imposed sanctions on telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Ltd., blocking its access to American technology. Trump cited security concerns but Chinese officials saw an attempt to cripple China’s first global tech brand.

Washington is “using improper official measures to suppress Chinese enterprises,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said last week.

Xi might feel more confident because, after facing accusations he bungled relations with China’s biggest export market, he has strengthened his political position and silenced critics, said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

A year ago, Xi felt threatened enough that he was “anxious to get this over with,” said Lam. But now, he has gathered support and “can dig in for the long haul.”

That would mark a return to Beijing’s traditional “war of attrition” strategy of holding out - for a decade or more, if needed - to get what it wants from the United States, Europe and other partners.

China spent 12 years, longer than any other government, negotiating its 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization.

Eighteen years later, it still is dickering over terms for joining the Government Procurement Agreement, which extends WTO free-trade principles to official purchases. In this June 29, 2019 file photo, US President Donald Trump (left), shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, western Japan. Facing another US tariff hike, Xi is getting tougher with Washington instead of backing down. Both sides have incentives to settle a trade war that is battering exporters on either side of the Pacific and threatening to tip the global economy into recession. (AP)