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Xi-Biden summit lays groundwork, but ‘significant challenges’ remain in trade talks
- US business lobby expects future talks to cover more equitable market access, easing travel restrictions, SOE subsidies and China’s WTO obligations
- Chinese analysts question how far negotiations can progress amid anti-China rhetoric on Capitol Hill and simultaneous containment efforts by Washington
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Trade talks between China and the United States have been fast-tracked after a virtual meeting between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, but finding common ground for future negotiations is still far from assured, according to analysts.
While both sides appeared to put aside recent acrimony to address bilateral economic issues, Chinese analysts still question what is behind the US’ “strategic competition” and how far negotiations will progress amid anti-China rhetoric on Capitol Hill and accusations that China is a “non-market economy”.
Tuesday’s meeting showed the two countries were keen on lowering the temperature, but they remain wide apart on issues of economics, geopolitical influence, tech and human rights.
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Chen Fengying, a senior fellow of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), said Chinese purchases under the phase-one trade deal, along with supply-chain issues, could be future topics of discussion, especially as the Biden administration looks to cool US inflation.
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Xi Jinping and Joe Biden call for mutual respect and peaceful China-US coexistence
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden call for mutual respect and peaceful China-US coexistence
If they were resolved, the US could cancel the 7.5 per cent tariff it slapped on US$120 billion worth of Chinese goods and reduce the 25 per cent tariff on US$250 billion worth of merchandise, she said.
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