US-China trade war: Beijing’s ‘best efforts’ defended after failing to meet trade-deal terms

Former head of think tank under commerce ministry defends China’s ‘very good’ purchases and says failure to meet its commitments was due to ‘a variety of reasons’

Recent deals between US and Japan, European Union to resolve tariffs raise hope that Washington and Beijing could return to the negotiating table

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China bought about 57 per cent of the American goods and services it had committed to purchase under the two-year phase-one trade agreement. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30pm, 9 Feb 2022Updated: 9:04am, 10 Feb 2022

China put forth its “best efforts” to meet commitments it made in the phase-one trade deal with the United States over the past two years, despite falling well short of targets, according to Chinese experts who are now calling for substantive negotiations to expand trade and resolve Trump-era tariffs.

Beijing bought about 57 per cent of the American goods and services it had committed to purchase under the agreement, and the total was “not even enough to reach its import levels from before the trade war”, according to a scathing report released on Tuesday by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), which described the once-ballyhooed trade deal as a “historic failure”.

But the former head of a think tank under China’s Ministry of Commerce says the result was “very good”, given the impact of the pandemic.

Huo Jianguo also criticised the US for taking Beijing’s shortfall in its purchasing commitment as an “untenable” excuse to keep pressuring China while showing no willingness to proactively reduce the additional duties on Chinese products that Washington imposed during the trade war.

China has done its best and has imported as much as it could and should have

Huo Jianguo

“The implementation of any agreement requires both parties to cooperate with each other. The supply chain in the US is in shambles, and ports are unable to ship goods,” Huo said, noting that China’s failure to meet its commitments was due to “a variety of reasons”.