Analysis | Expect tough talk when US trade hawks visit China, not an end to the row
Analysts say next week’s trip will help to ease tensions, but the dispute won’t be resolved any time soon
Expectations are low that China’s trade squabbles with the US can be easily resolved, as three of the biggest hawks in US President Donald Trump’s administration prepare for a joint trip to Beijing next week.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, National Economic Council head Larry Kudlow, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro will accompany US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to Beijing on Thursday and Friday, where they are scheduled to meet Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping and Vice-President Wang Qishan.
“We do not expect to see a fundamental solution, but the two countries will try to cool down the confrontation,” said Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics. “The talk will be tough, and it’s unlikely they can solve the conflict in just one trip. This confrontation will continue for a while.”
There are ominous signs that the dispute could be protracted. On Friday, Lighthizer kept China on a “priority watch list” of 12 countries, including Canada, with problematic or deteriorating environments for intellectual property, in Washington’s annual global violation report. He also slammed China for what he called “unfair” and “backward” intellectual property protection laws.