Trade relations between China and the US will face a "serious setback" if the US "rashly" imposes tariffs on Chinese imports, Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai (薄熙來) said.
"China is not pursuing a big trade surplus with the US," Bo said in a meeting with two US senators on March 23, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Commerce website late on Friday night. "China is willing to increase US imports to help trade develop evenly on both sides."
The US's trade deficit with China surged by a quarter to a record US$201.6 billion last year, prompting US lawmakers to threaten punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.
Bo said China acknowledges the trade deficit issue. Still, he said industry restructuring is to blame for the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US, not rising Chinese imports. He also asked for some existing trade restrictions to be lifted.
"China hopes the US would quickly scrap restrictions on exports of high-technology products to the nation as this would bring more trade opportunities for the US," Bo said in the statement.
The US restricts companies from selling semiconductor-production equipment to China used to make more advanced 12-inch wafers.
The US and China are planning to hold an April 11 trade summit in Washington, along with a visit to the US by Chinese President Hu Jintao (
New York Senator Charles Schumer told reporters on March 23 his decision on sanctions would depend on Hu's meeting with President George W. Bush on April 20, and the US Treasury Department's latest review of US trading partners' currency policies on April 15.
On July 21, China took the first step in a decade toward allowing a freely traded currency by letting the yuan gain 2.1 percent against the dollar.
China has linked the yuan's value to a basket of foreign currencies, including the euro and yen. It allows the yuan to fluctuate by up to 0.3 percent either side of a daily rate against the dollar announced by the central bank.
The next stage of the country's monetary measures will be to "improve the foreign-exchange rate formation mechanism, enlarge the foreign-exchange market, add flexibility, while keeping basic stability at a reasonable and balanced level," the People's Bank of China said on Friday.
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