U.S. Commerce chief in Beijing for talks to help avert trade war

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s decision to slap tariffs on its top allies could weaken Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ hand as he landed Saturday in Beijing to try to fend off a trade war with China.

“This is really the U.S. going it alone,” said Philip Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs who was a trade adviser in the George W. Bush administration. “By assaulting all our allies, we leave ourselves standing unprotected and by ourselves in a way we really never have been.”

“We are alienating all of our friends and partners at a time when we could really use their support,” added Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator who is now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

After briefing reporters on the administration’s decision to slap tariffs on imported steel from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, Ross arrived in Beijing for negotiations aimed at resolving a dispute over China’s aggressive attempts to challenge U.S. technological supremacy.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis raised the prospect of additional U.S. steps against China if its “militarization” of the South China Sea keeps apace.

Mattis said Beijing was intimidating and coercing others in the region by putting weapons systems on man-made islands.

President Donald Trump, backing the remarks by his Pentagon chief at an international security forum in Singapore, said on Twitter: “Very surprised that China would be doing this?”