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US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo in Shanghai on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo

US business trust in China is wearing thin, warns US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo

  • ‘Patience is wearing thin among American business. They need and deserve a predictable environment and a level playing field,’ the US commerce secretary said
  • The US and China used to be each other’s largest trade partners. The US now trades more with Canada and Mexico; China trades more with Southeast Asia

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned China in interviews broadcast on Sunday that the patience of US business was “wearing thin,” saying American companies deserved a “predictable environment and a level playing field.”

The two biggest economies in the world used to be each other’s largest trade partners, but Washington now trades more with neighbouring Canada and Mexico, while Beijing trades more with Southeast Asia.
While in China recently, Raimondo had said there was strong appetite among US businesses to make the relationship work and that, while some actions of the Chinese government were positive, the situation on the ground needed to match the rhetoric.

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US-China relations depend on strong economic ties, says US commerce chief during talks in Beijing

US-China relations depend on strong economic ties, says US commerce chief during talks in Beijing

“China is making it more difficult,” Raimondo told CBS’s Face the Nation. “I was very clear with China that we need to – patience is wearing thin among American business. They need and deserve a predictable environment and a level playing field. And hopefully China will heed that message so we can have a stable growing commercial relationship.”

Raimondo has said US firms faced new challenges, among them unexplained large fines, raids on businesses and changes to a counter-espionage law.

“I was very clear, direct and firm in all of my conversations with my Chinese counterparts,” she told CNN. “I didn’t pull any punches. I didn’t sugarcoat anything.”

Raimondo also said that she had brought up to Chinese officials that her email was hacked in advance of her late August trip to China.

“They suggested that they didn’t know about it and they suggested that it wasn’t intentional,” she told CNN. “But I think it was important that I put it on the table and let them know and let them know that it’s hard to build trust when you have actions like that.”

As US keeps saying ‘de-risk’, Beijing blasts ‘zero-sum cold war mindset’

China is grappling with a slowdown that has rattled global markets, with the spotlight now firmly focused on troubled developer Country Garden’s spiralling debt crisis in a sector that contributes to roughly a quarter of the economy.

“I think there’s no question that (China’s economy) is slowing down. And certainly they’re having real, real significant challenges in the real estate sector,” she told Face the Nation.

Raimondo said China’s economy did better when it was more transparent and market-oriented.

“As they have closed down and become more arbitrary in the way they administer regulations, the economy is quite challenged,” she said.

US President Joe Biden in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, US on Sunday. Photo: AP
Also on Sunday, US President Joe Biden said he was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping was not attending the summit of G20 leaders in India, but added that he was going to “get to see him.”

“I am disappointed … but I am going to get to see him,” Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, without elaborating.

Biden will visit India from September 7 to 10 for a summit of the Group of 20 nations, followed by a trip to Vietnam as his administration seeks to strengthen US relations in Asia.
Xi is likely to skip the summit and Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the meeting in New Delhi, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

Asked if he was looking forward to his trip, Biden said: “Yes, I am.”

“I want a little more … coordination. I think they both (India and Vietnam) want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful,” Biden said.

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