US-China trade war talks collapsed due to ‘culture gap’ in understanding of law, professor says
- Chen Zhiwu, director of the Asia Global Institute in Hong Kong, offers fresh perspective to understand how Chinese and American officials failed to reach a deal
- Chinese team, led by Vice-Premier Liu He, is largely made up of economists, while the US team is led by experienced lawyer Robert Lighthizer
Trade talks between China and the United States collapsed because there was “a critical cultural gap” on the understanding of law between the two sides, according to a professor at the University of Hong Kong.
The explanation offered by Chen Zhiwu, director of the Asia Global Institute in Hong Kong who also taught at Yale University, provided a fresh perspective to understand how Chinese and American officials failed to reach a deal to end the trade war after months of negotiations.
According to an article published by Chen on Thursday, the high-stakes talks involved “lawyers” on the US side and “economists” on the Chinese side who had very different understandings of the importance of law to the final agreement.
The US team, led by experienced lawyer Robert Lighthizer, are “particularly skilled at imagining all possible scenarios and specifying corresponding remedies and actions” and insisted on including such arrangements into Chinese law.
Lighthizer’s deputy, Jeffrey Gerrish, is also an experienced lawyer, while the acting assistant trade representative for China affairs, Terry McCartin, has practised law for more than 10 years.
