Bilateral negotiations begin next week
The United States and China will hold their first face-to-face negotiations next week to try to reach agreement on difficult trade issues after the consensus reached by Presidents Trump and Xi on December 1.
In a press statement released today, USTR confirmed that the US delegation will include USTR Deputy Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator Gregg Doud, Treasury Under...
Additional steps taken to implement G20 outcomes amid heightened tension on cybertheft
The United States and China took some additional steps this week to reduce bilateral trade tensions, though the United States announced actions on cyber crime that dampened the mood in the relationship.
At China’s Central Economic Work Conference this week, leaders promised to implement some structural economic changes to implement the agreement reached by...
Initial actions announced on US-China trade issues, though much work remains
The United States and China this week took initial steps to reduce tensions in bilateral trade.
On Monday evening, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Vice Premier Liu He spoke by phone. A brief statement released by the Ministry of Commerce said that “both sides exchanged their views on the timetable and roadmap for pushing...
Details about the agreement and future trade talks still unclear after Trump-Xi meeting
Limited details have emerged about the agreement that Presidents Trump and Xi reached at their working dinner after the G20 summit this past weekend, creating ambiguity about what the goals and agenda of the trade talks for the next 90 days will be.
Trump confirmed this week that the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be leading the trade negotiations and will also be working...
China sends a proposal on trade issues to the United States
China tabled a proposal to the United States on Monday that specifies a list of concessions that China is willing to make to address US concerns on bilateral trade issues. USCBC sources reveal that China sent the proposal to the US Department of the Treasury.
Reportedly, China’s proposal categorizes the US list of 142 demands into three parts: items that China is working on, issues that China is willing to continue...
Internal work begins on US trade priorities for Trump-Xi meeting at G20
According to news reports, President Donald Trump’s phone call with President Xi Jinping on Thursday has prompted the administration to initiate an internal process of identifying potential terms of an agreement to address US trade concerns when the presidents meet after the G20 summit on December 1. The meeting was rescheduled from November 29 to upgrade it from discussions on the sidelines of the G20 to a “...
USCBC: China should move first to resolve the US-China trade tensions
The trade tensions between the United States and China are likely to escalate again unless China articulates the list of structural reforms that it is willing to undertake to address the US concerns, US-China Business Council President Craig Allen told reporters yesterday.
USCBC sources indicate that the probability is currently 75 percent that the United States will increase the 10 percent tariff rate to...
Treasury strongly criticizes China but withholds from calling it a currency manipulator
In its semiannual report on other countries’ foreign exchange practices, the US Department of the Treasury maintained China on its currency monitoring list, but again refrained from labeling China a currency manipulator.
The findings of Treasury’s new report on China are the same as those of Treasury’s previous report in April. Like its previous report, Treasury placed China on its...
Treasury expands review of foreign investment in US “critical technology” through pilot program
On Wednesday, the Department of the Treasury announced the launch of a pilot program to implement a key provision of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) focusing on acquisitions of critical technologies.
The pilot program will “assess and address” the risks to US national security stemming from foreign investors’ efforts to obtain US critical technologies...
Vice President Pence warns of China’s aggression against the United States
In a speech at The Hudson Institute on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence asserted that China is applying a “whole-of-government approach,” consisting of propaganda and economic, military, and political “tools,” to expand its “influence” and “interests” in the United States. In the face of China’s aggression, Pence vowed that the United States “will not stand down.”
On China’s “economic tools,” Pence...
