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17 January 2019
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| China(The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions |
The top U.S. and Chinese trade envoys will hold talks in Washington this
month in a possible sign of progress toward ending a costly tariff battle over
Beijing's technology ambitions.
The Ministry of Commerce announcement of the
Jan. 30-31 event was the first sign of a next step by the two sides following
negotiations in Beijing earlier this month between lower-level officials.
China's economy czar, Vice Premier Liu He,
was invited by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the ministry said.
Economists and business groups said earlier
that a decision by Liu and Lighthizer to take part in person would indicate
technical discussions made enough progress to require high-level political
decisions.
The two sides have imposed tariff hikes of up
to 25 percent on tens of billions of dollars of each other's goods in the fight
over U.S. complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over
technology. Washington also is pressing China to roll back plans for state-led
industry development that its trading partners say violate its market-opening
obligations.
The Washington talks are aimed at carrying
out the Dec. 1 agreement by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to suspend
further tariff increases for 90 days while they negotiate, said Ministry of
Commerce spokesman Gao Feng.
They are likely to take up more complex U.S.
complaints about Chinese policy on which lower-level officials "couldn't
give a clear response," said Yu Chunhai, a trade expert at Renmin
University in Beijing.
Chinese officials have suggested Beijing
might adjust its industry plans. But they reject pressure to abandon what they
consider a path to prosperity and global influence.
Liu probably will tell U.S. officials
"what China can and can't do," said Yu.
For their part, Chinese leaders object to
U.S. export controls on "dual use" technology with possible military
uses. They say Chinese companies are treated unfairly in national security
reviews of proposed corporate acquisitions, though almost all deals are approved
unchanged.
"Such communication must be made between
officials at a higher level," said Yu.
Neither side has shown any sign of changing
its basic position. Economists say the 90-day window is too short to resolve
conflicts that have strained their relations for nearly two decades.
Chinese exports to the United States held up
through much of 2018 despite Trump's tariff hikes but contracted by 3.5 percent
in December compared with a year earlier as the penalties began to depress
demand.
Liu held talks in June in Beijing with U.S.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as trade tensions mounted. They failed to
produce a settlement and Trump went ahead the next month with his first tariff
hikes.
Liu made a surprise appearance at this
month's talks in Beijing. Financial markets took that as a positive sign.
Global stock markets rose but then fell back after the meeting produced no
agreements.
U.S.-Chinese relations are increasingly
strained over technology, trade and cyber-spying.
This month's talks in Beijing went ahead
despite the arrest of an executive of Chinese technology giant Huawei in Canada
on Dec. 1. The United States wants her extradited on charges that she lied to a
bank about dealings with Iran.
On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported
U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei stole trade secrets from U.S.
companies.
The investigation was prompted in part by a
lawsuit brought by T-Mobile U.S. Inc. that accused two Huawei employees of
stealing technology for a robotic arm used to test mobile phones, the Journal
said, citing unidentified sources. The two companies settled their dispute in
2017.
"We doubt the intentions behind
this," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying. She said it
would be "inconsistent with the rules of free and fair competition"
if U.S. authorities "arbitrarily used the state apparatus to suppress
Chinese enterprises."
Beijing has tried to defuse pressure for more
sweeping changes by emphasizing its growing importance as an import market and
promising more access to its auto and some other industries.
Trump has complained repeatedly about the
U.S. trade deficit with China. China reported Monday its 2018 trade surplus
with the United States swelled to a record $323.3 billion.
Beijing also faces complaints from the European
Union. The 28-nation trade bloc has filed a challenge in the World Trade
Organization against Chinese licensing rules it says hinder foreign companies
from protecting and profiting from their own technologies.The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
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