Liu He to go ahead with US visit for trade talks
Vice-Premier will lead China delegation at talks
BEIJING: China said yesterday that Vice-Premier Liu He will go ahead with a visit to the United States this week, after efforts to reach a deal to end a trade war were thrown into doubt by US President Donald Trump's vow to impose new tariffs.
US officials have said China has backtracked on substantial commitments it made during months of negotiations.
Those concerns prompted Mr Trump to say on Sunday that he would raise tariffs on US$200 billion (S$273 billion) worth of Chinese goods to 25 per cent from 10 per cent by the end of the week, and would "soon" target remaining Chinese imports with tariffs.
The President's tweets abruptly ended a five-month ceasefire in a trade dispute that has cost the two countries billions of dollars and disrupted manufacturing supply chains.
The flare-up in tensions set global stocks and oil prices lower on Monday, and raised speculation that China could cancel Mr Liu's planned visit.
China's Commerce Ministry confirmed that Mr Liu, who leads the talks for Beijing, will visit the US tomorrow and Friday.
If Mr Liu joins the delegation flying to the US, "it will signal how serious China is and indicates that China and the US are going to talk further", economists at ING said in a note earlier yesterday.
So far, the Chinese government's response to the prospect of new tariffs has been reserved, and yesterday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing that mutual respect was the basis for reaching a trade agreement.
"Adding tariffs can't resolve any problem," Mr Geng said.
"Talks are by their nature a process of discussion. It's normal for both sides to have differences. China won't shun problems and is sincere about continuing talks," he said.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has been an advocate for tough structural changes in China, said on Monday that Beijing had reneged on commitments it had made previously that would have changed the agreement substantially.
"Over the course of the last week or so we have seen ... an erosion in commitments by China," Mr Lighthizer told reporters. "That in our view is unacceptable."
"We're not breaking off talks at this point. But for now... come Friday there will be tariffs in place," Mr Lighthizer said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, considered to be less hawkish toward China, said China's backtracking became clear with "new information" over the weekend.
"They were trying to go back on language that had been previously negotiated, very clear language, that had the potential of changing the deal dramatically," Mr Mnuchin said.
China has repeatedly said it will make changes to open its economy according to its own timeline, not in response to trade disputes.
But recently it has enacted new laws and amended others, moves some see as efforts to address concerns shared by the United States and other foreign investors, including those from China's largest trading partner, the European Union. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
