Vice-Premier Liu He will lead a Chinese delegation to the United States to discuss economic and trade issues at an appropriate time, following China’s receipt of an invitation from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Ministry of Commerce said on May 9.
A spokesperson from the ministry confirmed that Chinese officials and officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump have been talking about the visit.
This would be the second high-level meeting since a bilateral trade dispute escalated in March. The first talks took place in Beijing on May 3 and 4.
Experts predicted that officials from both sides would discuss how to avoid the proposed tariff on $150 billion of China’s exports. China has warned that $50 billion in US goods are targeted for tariffs and vowed to fight to the end.
“Even though the Trump administration proposed steep tariffs on Chinese imports worth $50 billion with its first list in late March, we have noticed that the US government endeavored to avoid putting daily necessities and household goods on the list to minimize the impact on its people’s daily lives,” said Mei Xinyu, a senior researcher at the Ministry of Commerce’s Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Mei said the two economies are intensely interdependent and intertwined and it is inevitable that any protective trade measures will hurt their economies and global value chain.
Other issues, including technology transfers, investment environment, exchange rate, talent flows and intellectual property protection, may also be discussed, said Chen Wenling, chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
