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发帖数: 621 | 1 https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-rejects-u-s-target-for-narrowing-trade-
gap-1526756661
A last-ditch effort by the Trump administration failed to get China to
accept its demand for a $200 billion cut in the U.S. bilateral trade deficit
, as Chinese officials resisted committing to any specific targets after two
days of contentious negotiations.
The two days of deliberations in Washington ended with both sides arguing
all night on Friday over what to say in a joint statement, people briefed on
the matter said. The Chinese had come willing to step up purchases of U.S.
merchandise as a measure to narrow China’s $375 billion trade advantage.
But U.S. negotiators pushed the Chinese delegates to approve a specific
target of $200 billion in additional Chinese purchases. The Chinese refused
any such target in specific dollar amounts, and the matter is now in the
hands of President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, the people said.
The two sides released a joint statement shortly after the Chinese
delegation was scheduled to return home, but it made no reference to the
specific purchasing amounts that the U.S. had wanted.
“Both sides agreed on meaningful increases in United States agriculture and
energy exports,” the statement said, adding that “the delegations also
discussed expanding trade in manufactured goods and services. There was
consensus on the need to create favorable conditions to increase trade in
these areas.”
Chinese officials were wary of appearing to make concessions to Washington,
and insisted the statement note that any Chinese purchases of U.S. goods and
services are intended to “meet the growing consumption needs of the
Chinese people.”
China on May 18 said it is dropping antidumping and antisubsidy
investigations into imported U.S. sorghum.
China on May 18 said it is dropping antidumping and antisubsidy
investigations into imported U.S. sorghum. PHOTO: SUE OGROCKI/ASSOCIATED
PRESS
Beijing negotiators had come to Washington to settle a feud resulting from
the Trump administration’s impatience with China’s large trade advantage.
The U.S. side is also frustrated over allegations China pressures U.S. firms
to transfer advanced technology and steals U.S. intellectual property.
Washington has demanded China address these issues, under threat of U.S.
tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese goods. Should the U.S. make
good on those threats, Beijing has promised to respond with its own tariffs
on U.S. imports.
The procedural steps toward implementing the first tranche of threatened U.S
. tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports could be completed by as early
as next week, but in the joint statement, the two sides agreed to continue
talking.
Souring the mood among Chinese officials were some U.S. media reports that
China had accepted a U.S. request that Beijing slash its vast merchandise
trade surplus by $200 billion, an amount that would cut by more than half
the U.S. trade deficit with China. The Chinese side saw those reports as a
last-minute effort by Trump administration officials to pressure Beijing
into a public agreement that would meet U.S. objectives.
Early Friday, Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, had
told reporters that China offered to boost its annual purchases of U.S.
products by “at least $200 billion.” Mr. Kudlow also said “they are
meeting many of our demands. There is no deal yet, to be sure.”
While Beijing has been wary of committing to numerical targets of specific
purchase amounts, it has in general offered to buy more U.S.-made autos,
energy and agricultural products as a way to ease the trade tensions between
the two nations that have rattled global financial and commodities markets.
The Chinese delegation was headed by Vice Premier Liu He, who impressed
Washington officials, Mr. Kudlow said in a Friday interview with White House
reporters, adding Mr. Liu is a “smart guy, a market guy.”
One of Washington’s central demands is that China reduce its merchandise
trade surplus by at least $200 billion by the end of 2020, even though
economists in both nations say the trade deficit is affected by investment
and savings patterns in both nations—not trade policy. Beijing has rejected
most U.S. demands in the past and has continued to hold firm.
The U.S. Agriculture Department recently asked agriculture companies to come
up with a list of products whose production could be ramped up rapidly for
export to China, a person following the talks said. At the same time, China
put together a list of high-tech products that are barred by U.S. export
controls for sale to China but are allowed by other nations.
Beijing argues that if the U.S. would ease the export controls on these
items, it would purchase more from the U.S., the person briefed on the
matters said. Even so, some U.S. officials believe, the additional Chinese
purchases would only total $50 billion to $60 billion in the next year or
two, far short of the U.S. goal.
One Chinese request is for a reprieve on China’s ZTE Corp. from crippling U
.S. sanctions over its trade with Iran and North Korea. Mr. Trump said early
last week that he would work with Mr. Xi to get the telecommunications-
equipment maker “back into business,” defending such a move as part of a
trade deal the U.S. is negotiating with China.
However, “there is no firm agreement on ZTE as of yet,” a person familiar
with the discussions said. U.S. lawmakers from both parties have criticized
any effort to ease restrictions on the company, calling ZTE a security
threat, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) tweeting on Saturday: “If we don’
t wake up & start treating this as a national security issue, China is going
to win again.”
Settling the trade fight is taking on a degree of urgency as the tensions
start hurting businesses in both countries. U.S. goods, including sorghum,
soybeans and cars, have faced growing hurdles when entering China, while a U
.S. order banning American companies from selling components to ZTE not only
threatens the survival of the company but also that of other state-owned
Chinese companies.
Responding to Mr. Trump’s promise of a reprieve for ZTE, Beijing has made a
number of conciliatory gestures. China’s antitrust regulators had delayed
for months U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital’s $18 billion deal for
Toshiba Corp.’s memory-chip unit, but on Thursday, the Japanese firm said
regulators had allowed the deal to proceed. Chinese regulators also promised
this week to restart their review of U.S. chip maker Qualcomm Inc.’s bid
for NXP Semiconductors NV.
China has also offered to hold back penalties on a variety of U.S.
agricultural products it announced in early April as retaliation for U.S.
tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum exports. China is a buyer of U.S. farm
products. On Friday, China’s Commerce Ministry announced an end of its
antidumping investigation into imported U.S. sorghum. | f****o
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