By Chu Daye
BEIJING: The phone call made on Tuesday by chief trade talk negotiators from China and the US and the ensuing announcements showed that there is still enough will from the two sides to implement the phase one trade deal, despite doubts that the deal might be on shaky ground after the call was not held at a pre-scheduled time, Chinese analysts said on Tuesday.
They also hinted at the idea of the US loosening its curbs on Huawei, a buyer with huge purchasing power that may help accelerate the implementation of the deal.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone conversation with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday at the latters’ invitation and the two sides had “constructive” dialogue over the phase one deal, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday. The call was originally scheduled for August 15, but was delayed. US President Donald Trump later said he had canceled the talk, Bloomberg reported.
The two sides had constructive dialogue on how to strengthen bilateral coordination on macroeconomic policies, and on implementation of the phase one economic and trade agreement. The two sides also agreed to create conditions and an atmosphere conducive to pushing forward with the implementation of the trade deal, according to Xinhua. Analysts pointed out that this is by far the most positive communication between the two sides in recent weeks amid increasingly strained ties, with no blaming rhetoric used in each side’s announcements. Song Guoyou, director of Fudan University’s Center for Economic Diplomacy, said the phone call sent a positive signal to the world.
“The delayed China-US call being eventually held shows that China and the US’ trade and economic cooperation centered around implementing the trade deal will continue,” said Song.
“[The call] shows both sides still have enough will to continue to implement the phase one trade deal,” Song noted. In addition to the protection of intellectual property, the opening-up of China’s financial sectors and the so-called issues around technology transfers, “the parties also discussed the significant increase in purchases of US products by China, as well as future actions required to implement the agreement,” read a press release posted on the website of the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, noted that, judging from the information in the news release, the subtext of both sides agreeing to foster an atmosphere conducive to the implementation of the trade deal could be positive news for Huawei, which is currently under attack from the Trump administration.
As the US presidential election nears, the Trump administration has escalated its crackdown on Chinese technology companies in addition to its efforts at decoupling and adding pressure on issues related to China’s core interests such as Hong Kong,
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
