ZCZC
BCN-30
US-CHINA-TRADE-LEAD
China offers to buy $70 bn of US goods, says official
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – China has offered to buy $70 billion
worth of US goods if Washington drops plans to impose tariffs in return, an
official in President Donald Trump’s administration told AFP on Wednesday,
confirming an earlier report.
Top Chinese economic advisor Liu He made the offer during weekend trade
talks in Beijing with a US delegation led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross,
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The new purchases would include soybeans, natural gas, crude oil and coal.
The Commerce Department on Wednesday told AFP no definitive agreement had
been reached and no further information was available.
During a regular news briefing Thursday in Beijing, the Chinese commerce
ministry confirmed the two sides had discussed detailed proposals during the
trade negotiations.
“China and the US carried out in-depth and concrete discussions in some
specific areas of trade cooperation, especially agricultural products and
energy,” said Gao Feng, the ministry’s spokesman, when asked about the $70
billion figure.
“China is willing to expand imports from the US under the precondition of
both sides walking towards each other,” Gao said.
US exports to China last year hit $130.4 billion, according to the
Department. A $70 billion package of purchases would amount to a 53.8 percent
increase.
For goods alone, the US trade deficit with China hit a record $375 billion
last year, and the White House has demanded Beijing cut the imbalance by $200
billion.
“If the United States introduces trade sanctions including tariffs, all
the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will be
void,” China’s official news agency Xinhua said Sunday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Liu personally explained to Ross the
offer would be void in the event Washington imposed additional tariffs.
Trump had announced last week that the US was pressing ahead with plans to
impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports tied to the
tech sector, which Washington says has benefitted from the alleged theft of
US know-how and intellectual property.
Washington’s trade battles with China, Europe, Mexico and others are an
effort to make those countries buy more US goods and force down the US trade
deficit, which Trump sees as a job killer and threat to the American
industrial base.
BSS/AFP/HR/1100