China extends qualified olive branch

Leaders hope recent concessions help bring end to tariffs

BEIJING >> China is buying U.S. soybeans again and has cut tariffs on U.S. cars. It is offering to keep its hands off valuable corporate secrets, while also allowing foreign investors into more industries than ever before.

Beijing hopes all of that will be enough to let President Donald Trump declare victory and end the trade war between the two largest economies. But the offer combines some real concessions, like lower tariffs, with nebulous promises, and it will be hard to ensure that China

sticks to its commitments.

That could make it a tough sell in Washington. The Trump administration’s

trade hawks are still pushing for a lot more, while even the doves fret that the new promises

need effective enforcement to make sure that China follows through,

according to people with a detailed knowledge of U.S. policymaking.

Many U.S. officials and businesses complain that China has long wiggled out of commitments accusations that China denies. And the more hawkish wing of the administration contends that Beijing’s assurances have been so vague that it is hard to discern any meaningful progress, a position some analysts support.

Beijing’s effort so far adds up “to a modest adjustment of Chinese foreign economic policy,” said Scott Kennedy, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, “but nowhere close to the great leap in liberalization that the U.S. and others are seeking.”

Midlevel trade talks this week in Beijing, which will continue into Wednesday, have been productive. But if negotiators do not come to a deal in the coming weeks, the administration is poised to raise U.S. tariffs on $200 billion a year in Chinese-made goods on March 2, amping up the trade war at a time when China faces rapidly softening growth and the U.S. economy is facing headwinds.

It is not clear whether the moves will fully satisfy Trump. The U.S. stock market, one of the president’s favorite barometers, has slumped in part over trade tensions. And further market gyrations could prompt the president to declare victory, even if China does not give up too much.

On Tuesday, Trump said in a message on Twitter that the talks were “going very well.”

CHRISTOPHER SMITH — THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES China has resumed its purchase of American soybeans, but it is not clear whether Beijing’s recent concessions will lead to a lasting truce on trade with the U.S.