US-China trade: cancel tariffs for Americans’ sake and don’t impose new measures, commerce ministry urges
- Latest comments come as US President Joe Biden continues to mull a lifting of trade tariffs imposed by the US on China under the previous administration of Donald Trump
- Chinese commerce ministry also reiterates Beijing’s stance that ‘US accusations against China on industrial subsidies are completely inconsistent with the facts’
While the Biden administration continues to mull the lifting of years-old trade tariffs on some Chinese goods, Beijing took an opportunity on Thursday to urge the US not to go in the opposite direction by imposing new protectionist measures.
The latest comments, by Ministry of Commerce spokeswoman Shu Jueting, came two days after a long-awaited meeting between top economic officials from both countries – their first such talks in nine months.
“China and the United States should meet each other halfway and make joint efforts to create an atmosphere and conditions for economic and trade cooperation, and jointly maintain the stability of global trade and industrial and supply chains,” Shu said at Thursday’s press conference.
“The sooner the US cancels its tariffs on China, the sooner American consumers and businesses will benefit.”
US receives over 400 requests to keep China tariffs, Biden ‘figuring it out’
Shu also once again reiterated China’s long-held position that Washington should remove all punitive tariffs on Chinese goods.
Tuesday’s meeting, between Vice-Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, fuelled anticipation of a rollback in tariffs imposed under the former presidential administration of Donald Trump – a move that could help ease decades-high inflation in the US.
But there remains considerable resistance to such a move, with the White House saying it had received hundreds of industry requests to keep the tariffs in place.
We urge the US not to introduce new trade measures
US news outlet Politico reported on Wednesday that Washington was likely to announce the lifting of a narrow set of tariffs on Chinese imports – likely duties on consumer goods such as bicycles – and the value was expected to be only US$10 billion worth of imports out of the roughly US$370 billion in place.
“The US accusations against China on industrial subsidies are completely inconsistent with the facts … The level and methods of China’s subsidies are in line with WTO rules,” Shu said on Thursday. “China has always opposed protectionist practices such as the Section 301 investigation. We urge the US not to introduce new trade measures.”
US-bound merchandise exports have defied the tariffs – rising by 7.9 per cent to US$452 billion in 2020 and jumping 27.5 per cent to US$576 billion last year.
Shu also played up trade growth in June, though she warned that geopolitical conflicts, a global economic slowdown, and monetary tightening may cloud trade-growth prospects in the second half of the year.
“For the next step, we’ll continue to provide support in terms of financing and taxes, orders and supply chains,” she said.
The nation’s overall exports rose by 13.5 per cent in the first five months, with trade data for June set to be released next week.
