Monday, August 27, 2018
No agreements were announced following two days of talks in Washington last week on resolving trade irritants between the U.S. and China. Press sources indicate that the U.S. focused more on the structural changes it wants China to make to its economy, moving away from merely pressing Beijing to increase imports of U.S. goods.
A Trump administration spokesperson said the two sides “exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship, including by addressing structural issues in China such as those identified in the Section 301 report.” A New York Times article quoted Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as calling the talks “relatively low-level, relatively exploratory sessions” that “are not destined as of today for a big breakthrough.” A statement from the Chinese government said the talks were “constructive and frank.” No further discussions have yet been scheduled, though trade could be on the agenda if, as expected, President Trump meets President Xi in November.
The discussions coincided with the Trump administration’s Aug. 23 imposition of an additional 25 percent tariff on another $16 billion worth of imports from China and a six-day hearing on the possibility of higher duties on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods. Public comments on that topic are due by Sept. 6.
The talks also followed closely President Trump’s signing into law of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, which would expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and is widely seen as primarily targeted at China. Among other things, the new law (a) updates the CFIUS definition of “critical technologies” to include emerging technologies that could be essential for maintaining the U.S. technological advantage over countries that pose threats, (b) adds new national security factors to the review process, and (c) strengthens the government’s ability to protect critical infrastructure from foreign government disruption.
For more information, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson at (202) 730-4956.