Some Chinese firms have recently inquired with US exporters about prices for agricultural products and applied for the removal of tariffs on the products.
It followed an earlier announcement to exempt 110 items of Chinese industrial imports from additional tariffs by the US side, which expressed its willingness to encourage US businesses to keep supplying Chinese firms. The US government also said it will issue licenses to companies seeking to sell goods to Huawei where there is no threat to national security.
China and the US are implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the G20 Osaka summit, the moves prove. China hopes that the US will meet it halfway and earnestly implement its commitments. As both sides carefully show sincerity and goodwill, China and the US are getting closer to reboot their stalled trade talks.
The US side seems to be softening its tone, as it is recognizing the resilience of China’s economy and gaining a sober assessment of the whole situation. China’s economy has remained steady while showing high quality development, official data revealed. In the first half of 2019, China reported a GDP growth of 6.3 percent, keeping its composure amid trade tensions and shoring up the global economy.
Facing growing domestic pressure, the US side needs to realize that confrontation can only hurt. The rational and constructive voices of 100 US scholars and politicians in an open letter published in the Washington Post on July 3 warned the government to drop policies which consider China an enemy because that approach will be counterproductive to US interests and the global economy.
US President Donald Trump may also need to consider how to handle farmers’ complaints, who are a critical part of his electoral base, as the 2020 election approaches. An article from the Council on Foreign Relations on May 31 pointed out that the US Department of Agriculture has unveiled a new $16 billion bailout for farmers affected by the trade conflicts, and after ten months of trade conflicts with China, subsidies to US farmers are set to drain over $25 billion from “US coffers” for the damage. The gain is not worth the loss: the tariffs have so far brought just over $19 billion in tax payments from US importers, $6 billion less than authorized farmer payments, the article said. Whether from professionals or the people, it is obvious to the US government that there is no winner in trade tensions.
The journey of the China-US trade talks is complicated and tortuous. The key to resolving the trade dispute is not the zero-sum mentality that aims to suppress one country’s development, but the sincerity and goodwill of both sides.