US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo considering China trip this year
- She says President Joe Biden is looking to engage, not escalate, with China in ways that are ‘good for America’, and she is likely to send a team over in spring
- Raimondo says plans to scrutinise US capital flows to China are a priority, but warns against ‘overly broad’ measures that will hurt American workers
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is considering a trip to China this year, a visit by one of the top US officials driving Washington’s efforts to limit Beijing’s technology ambitions amid multiple tensions between the two world’s biggest economies.
President Joe Biden is “looking to engage with China in all ways that are good for America, commercially, diplomatically – that communication is intended to de-escalate. That’s where we want to be in our relationship with China – not escalating”, Raimondo said in an interview at Bloomberg’s office in Washington on Thursday.
“I’m certainly going to be sending my team over – probably even this spring. We’re trying to work that out. And yes, I think probably I would” go, she said.
In 2022, trade in goods between the US and China climbed to a record, a reminder that consumers and companies in the world’s two biggest economies remain deeply connected while their governments diverge on a range of economic and political issues.
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The deepening trade ties between the countries risk being challenged by the widening split between Washington and Beijing, which have clashed on issues including human rights, trade and competition for technology and markets.