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US official says China trade talks ‘went just fine’
BEIJING, Jan 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US and Chinese officials extended trade
war talks into a third day on Wednesday, with a member of the American
delegation saying negotiations “went just fine”.
The US officials have been in Beijing since Monday for the first sit-down
talks since President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on
December 1 to a three-month truce on a tit-for-tat trade spat.
Asian markets rose on increasing optimism that the two sides would be able
to hammer out a deal ahead of a March deadline and avert further import
tariff hikes.
A member of the US delegation, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign
Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, told reporters that the team would return
to the United States later on Wednesday, and talks were “were wrapping up
now”.
“I think they went just fine,” McKinney said as he left the hotel with his
luggage, adding the trip “has been a good one for us”.
Trump boasted on Twitter on Tuesday that discussions in China were “going
very well!”
The US delegation, led by Deputy Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, had
been scheduled to end its visit on Tuesday.
Washington has been clamouring for an end to the alleged forced transfer –
– and even theft — of American technology, as well as steep government
subsidies for Chinese companies.
The Trump administration also wants Beijing to buy more American goods to
narrow a yawning trade gap and allow foreign players better access to the
Chinese market.
Neither Chinese nor US officials have given any details about the
discussions.
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– ‘Encouraging words’ –
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross signalled in a CNBC interview on Monday
that there was a “very good chance” of reaching an agreement.
China’s economy was more vulnerable to the fallout from the trade war, he
said, noting that Beijing exports more goods to the United States than the
other way around.
“I think a deal is very possible and I’ve heard some very encouraging
words,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook told CNBC.
“I don’t speak for them obviously,” Cook said in reference to the Trump
administration. “I do talk with them and I give them my ideas and thoughts.”
The US smartphone maker has felt the pinch of the bruising trade spat, and
warned that 2018 revenues would miss its forecast — in large part due to a
slump in iPhone sales in China.
The temporary trade-war ceasefire came after the two sides imposed import
duties on more than $300 billion of each other’s goods.
Without a resolution, punitive US duty rates on $200 billion in Chinese
goods are due to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent on March 2.
The current trade round coincided with an unannounced visit from North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for talks with
Xi in Beijing ahead of a possible second meeting between Kim and Trump.
China — Pyongyang’s sole diplomatic ally and main source of trade — said
it would not use Kim’s visit as a bargaining chip in the US trade talks.
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