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25/09/2018

U.S. Putting 'Knife To Its Neck' Making Trade Talks Very Difficult: China




U.S. Putting 'Knife To Its Neck' Making Trade Talks Very Difficult: China
China is finding it difficult to carry out trade talks with the United States while the Trump administration places a “a knife to China’s neck”, said a senior Chinese official on Tuesday.
 
Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said at a news conference that the chances of renewal of trade talks is dependent on the “will” of the US.
 
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that in a separate incident, a top diplomat of the Chinese government told a group of businessmen in New York the backdrop of “threats and pressure” by the US has made resuming talks nearly impossible.
 
State Councillor Wang Yi was quoted in the media as saying that there are certain groups in the US that are continuously engaged in making baseless statements and against China and criticising the Chinese trade and security practices which has led to a degradation of the environment for trade discussions between the two countries. 
 
“If this continues, it will destroy in an instant the gains of the last four decades of China-U.S. relations,” Wang told members of the U.S.-China Business Council and National Committee on United States-China Relations.
 
U.S. representatives there included Blackstone Group LP co-founder and Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman and Mastercard Inc Chief Executive Ajay Banga, the National Committee on United States-China Relations said on its website.
 
Neither the US nor China has given any indication of vindicating their positions on the escalating trade war which is increasingly enhancing the chances of a protracted risk of a trade war with serious consequences to the global economy.
 
On Monday, the already announced tariffs by the Trump administration on Chinese goods worth $200 billion and the retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on American imports, which included liquefied natural gas (LNG), started off. This is the third round of tariffs that the two countries have imposed on each other.
 
According to a white paper on the dispute published by China’s State Council, or cabinet, the US has also been accused by China of engaging in “trade bullyism”, and other countries are being pressurized by the US to concede to its demand.
 
“The sharp criticism (from Beijing on Monday) suggests that China might prefer to wait out the current U.S. administration, rather than embarking on potentially futile negotiations,” Mizuho Bank said in a note to clients.
 
“Given these developments, it is increasingly likely that both sides will not resume negotiations for some time, at least until there is a noticeable shift in the political mood on either side.”
 
There has been no even a hint of a break through to end the trade war in multiple rounds of Sino-U.S. talks that have taken place over the recent months and a new round of trade talks between the two countries which was scheduled to begin in the coming weeks were thrown off road following the reported decision of China of not sending through a delegation to Washington.
 
(Source:www.reuters.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell

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