CHINA MAKES U.S. TRADE CONCESSIONS
Beijing to extend retaliatory tariffs on cars and add opioid on controlled substances list
THE government said it will extend a suspension of retaliatory tariffs on United States cars and include the opioid fentanyl in a list of controlled substances, two steps that could generate a positive atmosphere for trade negotiations due to resume this week.
The country temporarily scrapped the 25 per cent tariff imposed on vehicles as a tit-fortat measure on January 1, after the White House delayed a rise in tariffs on US$200 billion (RM816 billion) of products that had been due that day. The Finance Ministry announced an extension of the suspension on Sunday, without giving a specific end date.
Vice-Premier Liu He is due to return to Washington tomorrow.
Chinese officials also pledged to tighten regulation on fentanyl from next month, a promise President Xi Jinping already made to President Donald Trump at a December meeting in Argentina.
The inclusion of the drug as a controlled substance in a category of non-medicinal narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
will start on May 1, according to the China National Narcotics Control Commission.
The moves signal China is trying to keep momentum in trade talks going as they enter what could be the final stretch before Trump and Xi are presented with a text to finalise or sign.
China is determined to prevent an escalation of the frictions that have hurt its economy and roiled markets, even as enforcement measures remain a sticking point in negotiations.
“What matters is not whether these are big concessions or not, but that they are a quick response to the US concerns,” said Gai Xinzhe, an analyst at Sino Ocean Capital. “It’s not like in the past when issues raised in bilateral dialogues dragged on without solution.”
China touted “new progress” in talks after the visit here by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week.
Both sides had been working line-by-line through the text of an agreement that could be put before Trump and Xi, said sources earlier.