China is to send a senior negotiator to the US later this month to resume trade talks in what would be the first public meeting on the dispute in weeks as the trade conflict intensifies, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
Beijing and Washington have slapped tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of each other’s goods since they held their last high-level meeting in June, raising fears that the trade war could shake the global economy.
At the invitation of the US, a delegation led by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen (王受文), the deputy representative on international trade negotiations, is to meet with a team led by US Department of the Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass, the ministry said in a statement.
“The Chinese side reiterates that it opposes unilateralism and trade protectionism practices and does not accept any unilateral trade restriction measures,” the ministry said. “China welcomes dialogue and communication on the basis of reciprocity, equality and integrity.”
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in June held talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (劉鶴) in Beijing. Liu had met with US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in Washington a month earlier.
However, the discussions failed to reduce tensions as the US slapped tariffs on US$34 billion of Chinese goods early last month, triggering an immediate dollar-for-dollar retaliation from Beijing.
The two countries are expected to launch a new round of tit-for-tat tariffs on US$16 billion of goods from each country on Thursday next week.
Washington has also lined up an additional US$200 billion in Chinese imports and US President Donald Trump said he could raise tariffs on those products to 25 percent instead of the previously touted 10 percent.
China responded by this month threatening to impose new tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods.
The two sides might discuss what Beijing needs to do, such as increasing US imports, further opening its markets and making efforts to protect US intellectual property rights, Macquarie Group head of greater China economics Larry Hu (胡偉俊) said.
Depending on actions taken by China, the US might discuss what it can do to temporarily prevent an escalation of the trade war, Hu said.
“I think we are still at an ice-breaking stage, the two sides are testing each other’s bottom line,” he said, adding that it would be a lower-level meeting than the previous talks.
The yuan has declined over the past few weeks, helping Chinese exporters as it makes their products cheaper, but it could fuel tensions with Trump, who has accused Beijing of manipulating its currency.
Chinese officials have said that the tariffs have yet to affect the country’s economy, with its exports beating forecasts last mo.
The threatened tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods could have “some direct impact” on industrial production, employment, foreign trade and commodity prices, but “the overall impact is generally controllable,” Chinese National Development and Reform Commission spokesman Cong Liang (從亮) told reporters on Wednesday.
However, analysts said that China could feel the full effect of tariffs this month.
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