Mohamed
The U.S. decided to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel imported from European Union, Canada and Mexico, increasing the global trade tensions that are caused by the tariffs the U.S. imposed on China.
Non–U.S. officials from the Group of Seven leading nations, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK announced their “unanimous concern and disappointment” while meeting in Canada on Saturday.
The U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports cover imports worth $5 billion and China replied by announcing that it would not abide by any agreement to buy more U.S. products.
Chinese officials also stated that China would not only back out of any purchasing agreements with the U.S. but also retaliate for any U.S. sanctions.
Officials from the U.S. and China have achieved “concrete progress” in areas including agriculture and energy during the trade talks, according China’s official Xinhua.
However, no final settlements have been reached and China warns that the negotiations will not go into effect if the U.S. imposes any trade sanctions on China. “Before committing to anything, the Chinese side wants assurance that Washington won’t go ahead with its tariff threats,” said one the officials.
The U.S.’s closest allies are criticizing Trump’s administration’s protectionist trade policies.
However, such actions give China the opportunity to be a guardian of the global trading order and gain support from other countries. “China is willing to increase imports from all countries including the U.S., which is beneficial to the two countries and to the whole world,” said Xinhua on Sunday.
The U.S. response didn’t improve the situation. A white House official said, “I don’t see any evidence that the president wants to pull back on that. The president has been leading the charge on that.
There is what I regard as widespread agreement inside the government on that.”
“Many of us have said, and the president has said, that the U.S. is always willing to negotiate in good faith on any and all of these matters under dispute. But thus far we’ve not been satisfied.”
Trump administration also announced that it is considering tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese products and China announced that it would reply with an equivalent measure if the U.S. imposed such tariffs.
Such announcements put Mr. Ross, the U.S. Secretary of commerce, plans in risk.
Wilbur Ross tried to secure a deal for increased Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans, beef, poultry, natural gas and crude oil, among other agricultural and energy products.
Mr. Ross decided to travel to Beijing to maintain a dialogue and try to resolve the trade tensions between the two nations.
One of the other major issues in the U.S.-China trade relationship is the Chinese government backed policies promoting the adoption of advanced technologies.
Washington has demanded the elimination of such policies because they favor domestic companies but China refused. In fact, China created an initiative that aims to enable Chinese companies to dominate electric vehicles, aerospace, robotics and other frontiers of manufacturing by 2025.
Another issue that initiated the U.S. imposed tariffs is Intellectual property. China has said it has made progress with protecting intellectual property. However, Derek Scissors, a China scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, stated, “Intellectual- property theft and coercion will continue, stateowned enterprise will be subsidized and sheltered, market access will be poor, and trade and foreign investment will function as tools of Chinese industrial policy