Close Xi aide to meet U.S. trade delegation in Beijing
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[May 02, 2018]
By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi
Jinping's top economic adviser, Vice Premier Liu He, will meet a
top-level U.S. trade delegation in Beijing this week, the government
said on Wednesday, amid a festering dispute between the world's two
largest economies.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on up to $150 billion
worth of Chinese goods to punish China over its joint-venture
requirements and other policies the United States says force American
companies to surrender their intellectual property to state-backed
Chinese competitors.
China, which denies it coerces such technology transfers, has threatened
retaliation in equal measure, including tariffs on U.S. soybeans and
aircraft.
In a brief statement, China's Commerce Ministry welcomed the
delegation's trip to Beijing, set for Thursday and Friday, adding that
Liu would meet its members to "exchange views" on issues of mutual
concern about Sino-U.S. trade and business ties.
It did not elaborate.
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Liu, a Harvard-trained economist, went to Washington in late February
for trade talks, but achieved no breakthrough.
Instead, just as he arrived, the Trump administration announced global
steel and aluminum tariffs aimed at punishing China for what Washington
says is its overproduction of steel that hurts U.S. steel makers.
This week's U.S. visitors include Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer,
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, White
House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro and new White House
economic adviser Larry Kudlow.
China has not said what exactly will be on the agenda, but it says it is
determined to open its economy further to the outside world, and has
denounced what it calls U.S. protectionism.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters the talks would
be constructive so long as the United States came in good faith.
However, owing to the complex nature and sheer size of the relationship,
it was not really very realistic to expect everything to be resolved
simply with just one round of talks, she said.
'LONG LEARNING PROCESS'
The talks needed some give-and-take, the official China Daily said in a
Wednesday editorial.
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![](../images/050218pics/busine59.jpg)
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He attends the news conference following
the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC), at the
Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 20, 2018.
REUTERS/Jason Lee
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"The time when China could be forced to open its doors is long past, and Beijing
is not opening them wider now simply to appease others," it said.
"If the U.S. delegation comes to China believing Beijing's resolve to open wider
to the outside world is a matter of expediency under pressure from Washington,
it will likely mean a lot of time is wasted setting the record straight."
Lighthizer said on Tuesday he was not looking to negotiate changes to China's
state-driven economic system in the talks, but would seek to expose it to more
foreign competition.
Lighthizer told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce he viewed the talks as the start of
a long learning process for Washington and Beijing to better manage their trade
differences.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ross said Trump was prepared to levy tariffs on China if the
delegation did not reach a negotiated settlement to reduce trade imbalances.
Speaking to CNBC television before traveling to China, Ross said he had "some
hope" agreements could be reached to resolve the trade tensions between the two
sides.
But Ross and Navarro, who spoke to steel company executives in Washington on
Tuesday, both said any final decision would be made by Trump.
Lighthizer played down the potential imposition of tariffs on China in his
remarks to the most powerful U.S. business lobby, which has opposed tariffs to
try to force changes in China's trade practices.
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The so-called Section 301 investigation tariffs could be imposed sometime in
June after the end of a public comment process.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Cheng Fang; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel
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