Actions to maintain healthy trade ties must be reciprocal

Patience often prevails over force when confronting a problem. Many difficulties that cannot be overcome in one go can be overcome when tackled little by little. It is such an approach that is hopefully paying dividends in the economic and trade talks between China and the United States.

Although the two sides reached consensus on some key issues during the Washington talks last month, and they agreed to put a trade war on hold, the statement released by the White House on Tuesday, announcing that it was intending to go ahead with its plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese hightech goods, cast a shadow over that agreement and raised doubts about how productive the weekend talks would be between the world’s two biggest economies.

However, the outcome of the discussions suggest that the two sides have continued to adopt a constructive attitude in their negotiations, which has enabled them to make progress.

According to a statement issued by the Chinese side on Sunday, the two sides have had good communication in various areas such as agriculture and energy, and have made concrete progress.

But with US President Donald Trump having taking a generally more contentious stance toward China, there is always the possibility that the US will turn around later and express a different view.

That is why, China stated that if the US implements trade sanctions, including the planned tariffs already announced, the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will not take effect.

Trump claims that he is seeking fairness and reciprocity in the US’ economic relationship with China, but so far he has sought to extort gains from China using the economic advantages the US has, and sought to attack China’s intellectual property rights to impede its progress in endogenous high-tech.

But although the aggressive policies the US has announced would harm China’s economy and impede its technological headway, they would also mean economic recession and unemployment in the US.

They represent divergence and mutual pain rather than convergence and mutual gain.

The competitive aspect of the US-China relationship has come to the fore recently, with trade an evident bone of contention, and this holds the potential for tremendous trouble.

But by engaging in dialogue with good faith, the two sides can turn their great troubles into little ones and then little ones into none at all, as a Chinese saying advises.