Trade war: first discussion between Chinese and American officials

Chinese and US trade officials have held their first virtual talks since Joe Biden arrived at the White House, China's Commerce Ministry said Thursday.

Relations between Beijing and Washington have largely deteriorated under the presidency of Donald Trump, marked by a trade conflict between the two leading world powers.

Read also: Trade war: new tensions between China and the United States

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held talks with Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative (USTR), in a "

constructive exchange

" and an "

attitude of equality and mutual respect

," according to a statement from the Chinese ministry of Trade.

Commercial agreement

"

Ambassador Tai discussed the guiding principles of the Biden-Harris administration, focused on trade policies (...) while raising issues of concern,

" said the representative's office in a short statement. American Trade.

Washington confirms a "

virtual meeting

" and "

sincere and pragmatic

"

exchanges

.

Read also: Donald Trump continues his trade war

This is the first exchange of this level between Katherine Tai, appointed to this post last March, and Liu He, chief economic adviser to President Xi Jinping and chief negotiator in the trade war.

The two countries signed a trade agreement in January 2020, supposed to put an end to two years of trade war, which contained provisions relating to the protection of intellectual property and the conditions for technology transfer, major requirements of the United States.

Chinese promises not yet fulfilled

The agreement also provides that the two parties must hold a progress meeting every six months. But the new Biden administration announced in April to take stock of the promises made by China under this agreement. The "

capacity

" of China to keep its commitments to the United States is a "

priority

", had assured Katherine Tai at the time. As part of the trade deal, China pledged to increase its purchases of US goods and services by at least $ 200 billion in 2020 and 2021.

However, Beijing had, at the end of the first quarter of 2021, achieved only 61 to 75% of the purchases planned at this stage, according to a study by Chad Bown, researcher for the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), carried out on the basis of international trade data published by the two countries.

The so-called "

phase 1

"

trade agreement,

however, had maintained US tariffs of 25% on a range of Chinese goods and industrial components worth 250 billion dollars, as well as Chinese retaliatory measures on more than 100 billion. dollars in imports from the United States.

The Biden administration has consistently defended the maintenance of these tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.

Washington had declared in March not to be ready to lift these tariffs but had assured to be open to discussions with Beijing.

Read also: Donald Trump did not succeed in his trade war

The tariffs had been imposed "

to remedy an unbalanced and unfair trade situation

," Katherine Tai said, adding that a sudden removal of these taxes could harm the US economy.