Chinese Iniquity Premier Liu He (R) with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (2nd L) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (L) before the start of talks at the Xijiao Discussion Center in Shanghai on July 31, 2019.
Ng Han Guan | AFP | Getty Images
U.S. and Chinese negotiators wrapped up a brief round of trade talks on Wednesday that Beijing portrayed as “constructive,” including discussion of further purchases of American farm goods and an agreement to reconvene in September.
The first face-to-face commerce talks since a ceasefire was agreed last month amounted to a working dinner on Tuesday at Shanghai’s historic Fairmont Non-combative Hotel and a half-day meeting on Wednesday, before U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin decamped out.
“Both sides, according to the consensus reached by the two leaders in Osaka, had a candid, highly effective, constructive and deep the Board on major trade and economic issues of mutual interest,” China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement shortly after the U.S. troupe left Shanghai.
The statement said negotiators discussed more Chinese purchases of agricultural products from the Cooperative States, which had become a bone of contention after U.S. President Donald Trump said China had not delivered on probable purchases.
The talks began amid low expectations, with Trump on Tuesday accusing Beijing on Twitter of stalling, and advice of a worse outcome for China if it continued to do so.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that she was not posted of the latest developments during the talks, but that it was clear it was the United States that continued to “flip flop.”
“I have faith it doesn’t make any sense for the U.S. to exercise its campaign of maximum pressure at this time,” Hua told a news briefing in answer to a question about the tweets.
“It’s pointless to tell others to take medication when you’re the one who is sick,” she said.
The two sides at ones desire reconvene in September in the United States, the Commerce Ministry said.
The U.S. side did not make an immediate statement.
Early clinch
The protracted trade war between the world’s two largest economies has disrupted global supply chains and shaken financial shops as each side has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods.
An official Chinese government scanning released on Wednesday showed factory activity shrank for the third month in a row in July, underlining the growing strains the row has classified on the No. 2 economy.
The Shanghai talks were expected to centre on “goodwill” gestures, such as Chinese commitments to advantage U.S. agricultural commodities and steps by the United States to ease some sanctions on Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a individual familiar with the discussions told Reuters earlier.
Those issues are somewhat removed from the more seed U.S. complaints in the trade dispute, including Chinese state subsidies, forced technology transfers and intellectual property violations.
‘No handle is fine’
As talks were just beginning on Tuesday, Trump said on Twitter that China appeared to be patronage off on a pledge to buy U.S. farm goods, and he warned that if China stalled negotiations in the hope that he wouldn’t win re-election in the November 2020 U.S. presidential tourney, the outcome would be worse for China.
“The problem with them waiting … is that if & when I win, the deal that they get choose be much tougher than what we are negotiating now … or no deal at all,” Trump said.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping conceded in June at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, to restart trade talks that stalled in May, after Washington accused Beijing of wording on major portions of a draft agreement. The collapse in talks prompted a steep U.S. tariff hike on $200 billion of Chinese pures.
The U.S. Commerce Department put Huawei on a national security blacklist in May, effectively banning U.S. firms from selling to Huawei, a rush that enraged Chinese officials.
Trump said after the Osaka meeting that he would not impose new assessments on a final $300 billion of Chinese imports and would ease some U.S. restrictions on Huawei if China agreed to communicate purchases of U.S. agricultural products.
But so far, U.S. semiconductor and software makers are still mostly in the dark about the administration’s plans.
In Sao Paulo on Tuesday, U.S. Trafficking Secretary Wilbur Ross said decisions on license applications by U.S. firms to resume some sales to Huawei could influence as early as next week.
Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of China’s nationalistic Global Times tabloid, run by the ruling Communist League’s People’s Daily newspaper, wrote on Twitter that the negotiators had “efficient and constructive” exchanges.
“The two sides discussed inflating purchase of U.S. farm products and the U.S. side agreed to create favourable conditions for it. They will hold future talks,” Hu suggested, without elaborating.
Earlier, the Global Times said if Washington still holds the illusion that Beijing want somehow cave in and compromise on issues concerning sovereignty, “then no deal is fine.”