US, China agree to cooperate on deficit in first trade talks under Trump’s purview

WASHINGTON: The United States and China have agreed to cooperate on reducing the trade deficit in the first round of economic talks under the Trump administration, Washington said at the conclusion of the meeting which produced no major breakthroughs.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had opened the talks between the world’s top two economies with tough demands for a more “fair, equitable and reciprocal” relationship, with more access for American-made goods and services.

The US side blamed the unbalanced relat ionship – marked by a trade deficit with China of US$ 309 billion last year – on Beijing’s policies that impede access to their market. China says Washington’s own rules restricting US high-tech exports are partially to blame.

But Ross and Mnuchin took a more measured tone in a statement following the conclusion of the talks with the Chinese delegation, led by Vice Premier Wang Yang.

“China acknowledged our shared objective to reduce the trade deficit which both sides will work cooperatively to achieve,” the two officials said in a joint statement.

“The principles of balance, fairness, and reciprocity on matters of trade will continue to guide the American position so we can give American workers and businesses an opportunity to compete on a level playing field.”

In his remarks at the one- day meeting’s opening ceremony, Ross had insisted change was necessary given the more than 200 per cent surge in Chinese exports to the United States in the last 15 years. — AFP