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Agencies

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that trade talks with China were nearing conclusion.
Mnuchin added that the US was open to facing “repercussions” if it did not live up to its commitments in any deal, a sign that the two sides are edging closer to an accord.
Since January, shuttle diplomacy between Washington and Beijing to resolve their nine-month trade war has dragged on longer than officials had expected. Both sides have continued to express cautious optimism without predicting success.
“It is more important to get it right than have arbitrary date,” Mnuchin told reporters. But “I’m hopeful we’re getting close to the final round of concluding issues.”

He spoke on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which end this weekend.
Mnuchin said he had told the other finance officials that the negotiations were making progress but he would not disclose a timeframe for when they might be wrapped up.
He said both sides had conducted phone discussions over the past week, and he added that he and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would hold two calls next week with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
The officials also were discussing whether more in-person meetings were necessary to conclude an agreement.
“If we are able to conclude this, it will be the most significant change in 20 years” in the economic relations between the two nations, Mnuchin said.
Can the chemistry between Xi and Trump really ease China-US ties?
A sticking point in the talks has been American officials’ insistence that any final agreement have teeth – and that they retain the ability to impose fresh tariffs should Beijing backslide on its commitments.
Mnuchin declined to get into details on Saturday.
“There are certain commitments the United States is making in this agreement and there are certain commitments that China is making,” he said.
“I would expect that the enforcement mechanism works in both directions, that we expect to honor our commitments, and if we don’t, there should be certain repercussions, and the same way in the other direction,” he said.“

Asked whether market openings in the agreement would go beyond what was contemplated in the 2016 Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations, he replied:
“We are making progress, I want to be careful. This is not a public negotiation ... this is a very, very detailed agreement covering issues that have never been dealt with before,” Mnuchin said. “This is way beyond anything that looked like a bilateral investment treaty.”
The BIT talks, pursued by former US President Barack Obama’s administration, stalled as China refused to satisfy US demands to open significant sectors of its economy to foreign investment.
HSBC warns on global growth, US-China trade war weighing on sentiment
The talks were not taken up by the Trump administration, which pursued tariffs on Chinese goods instead, leading to the current talks.
Trump said last week a conclusion in the talks was probably “four weeks” away but since discussions began earlier this year to end the nine-month trade war, the finish line has repeatedly slipped further into the future.
In a final statement from the meetings on Saturday, the IMF’s steering committee, which represents’ the organization’s 189 members, recognized the need to “resolve trade tensions” and support reforms of the World Trade Organization that have been demanded by the United States.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said many officials at the meetings in Washington “actually made their views well known about the benefits of trade” for economic growth.


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US-China trade war

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says China trade talks nearing final round with US willing to face penalties for not complying

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the World Bank/IMF spring meetings in Washington on Saturday. Photo: Bloomberg

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin leaves the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting at the IMF and World Bank's 2019 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, April 12, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin attend the IMF and World Bank's 2019 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, April 13, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the World Bank/IMF spring meetings in Washington on Saturday. Photo: AP

HSBC warns global growth is slowing, US-China trade war weighing on sentiment

HSBC officials warned at an annual meeting on Friday in the UK that global growth is slowing. An image of the HSBC logo at Collyer Quay in Raffles Place, Singapore. Photo: Roy Issa

Portrait of Mark Tucker, Executive Director and Group Chief Executive and President, AIA Group Limited. 28OCT15

US-China trade war ‘still within control’, Beijing says, as trade gap widens due to soaring Chinese exports

It is thought that a deal to end the trade war is within reach, but analysts have moved to cool expectations that this would give a major boost to China’s exports. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump with China's Vice-Premier Liu He in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington at the start of April. Photo: Reuters

US-China trade war damages export powerhouse Taiwan’s growth prospects, as global demand softens

Rolls of steel are stacked inside the China Steel Corporation factory, in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. Photo: Reuters

epa06413595 The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, on 02 January 2018. According to Taiwan press, Japan's Itochu Corp plans to spend 600 million US dollars to acquire 37.2 percent stake in the Taipei Financial Center Corporation which manages the Taipei 101, from Taiwan's food giant Ting Hsin International Group. If the application is approved by Taiwan's Investment Commission, Itochu will become the second-largest shareholder of Taipei 101 after Taiwan's Finance Ministry which holds 52 per cent stake. Ting Hsin group began consiidering selling its stake in Taipei 101 after it was involved in the cooking oil scandal in 2013, the biggest food safety scandal in Taiwan, and its image was damagedl. In recent years, several foreign firms have sought to buy stake in Taipei 101. In 2014, Malaysia's IOI (Ed: it is ioi, pls do not write 101) Properties sought to buy Ting Hsin's 37.2 per cent stake in Taipei 101 for 790 million US dollars, but dropped the deal after Finance Minister Chang

A woman watches a mask -a part used in wafer conception- at a show room of the 12-inch United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) factory in Tainan, southern Taiwan, 28 April 2006. UMC, the world's second largest contract microchip maker, said its net earnings in the first quarter in 2006 rose sharply due to higher non-operating income. AFP PHOTO/Sam YEH / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH

epa05068771 Vietnamese container vessel Hai Phong docked at the Kaohsiung Harbour, southern Taiwan, 14 December 2015. Ranked as the world's third-largest port in 1999, Kaohsiung Harbour's ranked has dropped to the 13th place due to expansion of ports and building new ports by Asian neighbours, especially China. In 2014, Kaohsiung Harbour handled 10.6 million (twenty-equivalent unit (TEUS) containers, up 6.6 per cent from 2013. To boost competativeness, Kaohsiung Harbour is building the No 7 Terminal with a depth of 18 meters. The new container terminal will be partially operational in 2018 and fully completed in 2020. EPA/DAVID CHANG

Chemistry between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump can smooth the way for China-US ties, Michael Pillsbury says

White House adviser Michael Pillsbury said trust between the US and China had been on the slide for the past decade. Photo: Wendy Wu

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 8, 2017, China's President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Donald Trump attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. - The White House on April 4, 2019, stoked anticipation Trump could announce a summit with Xi to finalize a trade agreement resolving their nine month-trade war. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP)

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo/File Photo/File Photo

Michael Pillsburyâs books on China. SCMP / Wendy Wu

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He says the agreement will cover issues ‘that have never been dealt with before’
‘Very, very detailed agreement’ currently has seven chapters


The ‘very, very detailed’ agreement, which currently has seven chapters, will cover issues ‘that have never been dealt with before’.


US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says China trade talks nearing final round with US willing to face penalties for not complying

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}He says the agreement will cover issues ‘that have never been dealt with before’ ‘Very, very detailed agreement’ currently has seven chapters

He says the agreement will cover issues ‘that have never been dealt with before’

‘Very, very detailed agreement’ currently has seven chapters