A truck transporting a container next to stacked containers at a port in Zhangjiagang in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Washington has also lined up an additional US$200 billion in Chinese imports and US President Donald Trump said he could raise tariffs on those products to 25 per cent instead of the previously touted 10 per cent. — AFP photo
BEIJING: China will send a senior negotiator to the United States in late August to resume trade talks, its commerce ministry said yesterday, the first public meeting on the dispute in weeks as the trade conflict intensifies.
Beijing and Washington have slapped tariffs on tens of billions of dollars worth of each other’s goods since they held their last high-level meeting in June, raising fears that the trade war could shake the global economy.
At the invitation of the United States, a delegation led by Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, the deputy representative on international trade negotiations, will meet with a team led by senior US treasury official David Malpass, the ministry said in a statement.
“The Chinese side reiterates that it opposes unilateralism and trade protectionism practices and does not accept any unilateral trade restriction measures,” the ministry said.
“China welcomes dialogue and communication on the basis of reciprocity, equality and integrity.”
US Commerce Minister Wilbur Ross held talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing in June. Liu had met with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington a month earlier.
But the discussions failed to reduce tensions as the United States slapped tariffs on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods in early July, triggering an immediate dollar-for-dollar retaliation from Beijing.
The two countries are expected to launch a new round of tit-for-tat tariffs on US$16 billion worth of goods from each country on August 23.
Washington has also lined up an additional US$200 billion in Chinese imports and US President Donald Trump said he could raise tariffs on those products to 25 per cent instead of the previously touted 10 per cent.
China responded by threatening in early August to impose new tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US goods.
“It is hard to tell how the talks will go but it’s a positive signal that the two countries are looking for some compromise plan,” said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
“If they were determined to fight it out, they wouldn’t meet,” he told AFP.
Larry Hu, head of greater China economics at the Macquarie Group, said the two sides may discuss what Beijing needs to do, such as increasing US imports, further opening its markets and making efforts to protect US intellectual property rights. — AFP