China, US praise trade war deal dispute settlement mechanism but details remain sketchy after talks
- Last week’s high-level talks in Washington appear to have made progress towards ‘phase one’ of a comprehensive trade deal
- Issue of enforcement has always been one of the thorniest issues between Beijing and Washington and led to the collapse of a talks in May
China and the United States have praised the inclusion of a dispute resolution mechanism as a key element of the interim trade deal reached in high-level talks last week in Washington, but so far neither side has offered any details about how it will be implemented.
Beijing has, for the first time in almost a year and a half of trade talks, officially acknowledged progress in the area of “dispute resolution” in talks with the US.
China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the two countries are now on the same page on the outlines of “phase one” of a comprehensive trade deal.
Taoran Notes, a social media account affiliated with the official Economic Daily newspaper that is used by Beijing to manage trade talk expectations, said the agreement of dispute resolution element marked a step forward from the previous one-sided US demand to install “an enforcement or implementation mechanism”.
The wording has changed to dispute resolution, and it is an interesting adjustment that reflects a substantial change in mindset
“An agreement should be signed on an equal basis with mutual benefit, [so] how can one side accept an enforcement mechanism imposed by the other side? Now the wording has changed to dispute resolution, and it is an interesting adjustment that reflects a substantial change in mindset,” Taoran Notes said.
