Trade talks between U.S. and China to resume over phone in the coming week
The Director of the United States (U.S.) National Economic Council – Larry Kudlow has said that U.S. and People’s Republic of China are soon going to talk over phone in coming week.
He was referring to the renewed efforts of striking a trade deal between U.S. and China. The renewed trader talks are an outcome of meeting between the President of U.S. – Donald Trump and President of China – Xi Jinping, during the recently held G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. At the Summit, Donald Trump has agreed to put the tariff of 25% on additional Chinese good worth U.S. $ 300 billion on hold.
Speaking on the occasion, Kudlow said, “They’re on the phone. They will be on the phone this coming week. And they will be scheduling face-to-face meetings. Lots of communications.”
In the meanwhile, the Spokesperson of Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China – Gao Feng has said that the tariff imposed by the United States (U.S.) on Chinese goods should be removed immediately, for renewed trade talks to be beneficial.
Speaking on the occasion, Gao Feng said, “The US tariff hike on Chinese products was the trigger for bilateral trade frictions, so all the additional tariffs imposed since [the beginning of the trade war in July 2018] must be scrapped once there is a deal.”
He further added, “Consultations must be conducted based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. The deal must be balanced, equal and mutually beneficial. China’s core concerns must be addressed.”
Gao Feng said that the announcement by the Tariff Policy Commission of China’s Cabinet, for imposing upto 25% tariff on U.S. goods in China worth U.S. $ 60 billion, was a retaliatory move from China.
The trade of agricultural produce is an important issue to be discussed in the upcoming trade talks.
At the time of trade war, China had held back its purchases of farm products from the U.S. Besides, the Ministry of Commerce has also urged U.S. to allow U.S. firms to resume selling of products to the embattled Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
The U.S. believes that Huawei is leaking private and confidential data to Chinese Government which poses a threat to national security of the U.S. and other nations using Huawei equipment and services. However, Huawei has rejected all the claims and has said that the company is independent from the Government and has never compromised on security and privacy terms.
Besides, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Huawei – Meng Wanzhou (daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei) was arrested in Vancouver by Canadian Authorities on December 1, 2018. She has been accused of bank fraud with regards to sanctions against Iran. Meng was later released on bail with restrictions on freedom of movement. She is presently undergoing court trial with regards to extradition request placed by U.S.
