BEIJING: The US will hold “frank conversations” with China on trade in the near future, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a speech on Monday, which is a positive signal indicating the two nations’ upcoming trade talks could be more constructive, as economic frictions between the world’s two largest economies have undercut both in the past three years, experts said.
Katherine Tai delivered a speech to the US think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, that she intended to have “frank conversations” with her Chinese counterparts, including talks over phase one trade agreement, noting that the upcoming talks are not intended to “inflame trade tensions with China.”
Tai also talked about “a targeted tariff exclusion process” for exemptions from customs tariffs imposed on $370 billion worth of Chinese goods a year by the previous Trump administration.
However, the Biden administration is unlikely to immediately lift tariffs on Chinese goods that were imposed by the previous Trump administration, although the tariffs are highly counterproductive and taking a toll on American consumers and manufacturers.
Tai said she is a “very practical” person, and the US will not seek an economic decoupling from China, and instead she will seek a “recoupling” that will bring more benefits to American businesses, including larger access to China’s huge market. Tai’s remarks on Monday is widely considered to be the most detailed assessment of the Biden administration’s economic policy towards China, and is also her first detailed remarks on trade between China and the US since she took office in March.
The “frank conversation” from Tai is a positive signal, since China-US trade talk mechanism is always there, while the word “frank” may indicate the US realized it has to resolve bilateral trade frictions in a more pragmatic manner, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, also a close follower of China-US trade talk, told the Global Times on Monday.
This is also in line with China’s US strategy – China always says all differences should be resolved through candid talks, and maintaining normal trade between the world’s two largest economies is very important for both and the global economy, analysts said.
Gao added that the US proposal for future trade talks showed the levies the US imposed on Chinese products no longer have the designed big impact – the US has neither found alternatives for Chinese products nor forced industrial chains moving out of China. – Agencies
