US, China having ‘friendly, frank’ trade talks
BEIJING: United States Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said yesterday trade talks have been “friendly and frank” as US and China continued with a second day of negotiations here aimed at de-escalating tensions between the two sides.
The world’s two largest economies have been at loggerheads over trade and industrial practices for months, with the talks under way in the Chinese capital the third formal round of negotiations.
The discussions are intended to ease tensions after Washington said it would follow through with tariffs on Chinese imports despite a truce reached between the two sides in the US last month.
“Our meetings so far have been friendly and frank, and covered some useful topics about specific export items,” Ross told the Chinese trade team led by Vice-Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s right-hand man on economic issues.
Liu offered the US team a “special welcome” here for the talks.
The planned US sanctions on Beijing include restrictions on Chinese investment, export controls and 25 per cent tariffs on US$50 billion (RM199 billion) in Chinese tech goods.
China has threatened to hit back with tit-for-tat tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in US goods.
But it has also taken conciliatory measures to address some of the Trump administration’s concerns and insisted that it hopes to avoid a damaging trade war.
If the US implements trade sanctions, including tariffs, then all outcomes of the China-US trade talks will be void, state news agency Xinhua said yesterday.
China was willing to increase imports from multiple countries, including the US, Xinhua said, adding that reform and opening up and increasing domestic demand were China’s national strategy.