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Consensus may not translate to an end in trade war: experts
By GT biz staff Source:Global Times Published: 2019/10/12 10:30:39
File photo: Xinhua
Amid the latest round of China-US trade talks, Chinese experts noted it is good to see the two sides reaching a consensus and agreement, but it is not necessarily tantamount that the trade war has ended, even if some tariffs are scrapped.
China and the US achieved substantial progress in multiple areas, including agriculture, intellectual property rights protection, exchange rate, financial services, expansion of trade cooperation, technology transfer and dispute settlement, after concluding the new round of high-level economic and trade consultations on Thursday and Friday, according to Xinhua News Agency.
CNBC reported that tariffs slated to hit imports of Chinese goods on Tuesday will not go into effect, citing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. As part of the deal, China agreed to purchase between $40 billion and $50 billion in US agricultural goods.
The US' suspension of added-tariffs on Chinese products which was set to take effect next week only shows that the trade war has stopped escalating for now, Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times.
The "substantial progress" made in the trade talks is the outcome of joint efforts from China and the US, showing that "if both countries are willing to talk, there are more solutions on the table than challenges [pertaining to trade issues]," said Zhuang Rui, a deputy dean of the University of International Business and Economics' Institute of International Economics in Beijing.
"It is the result of compromise of both the sides," Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a think tank, told the Global Times on Saturday. "It is clear that the two sides know about each other's bottom line, reading from the negotiation."
"It is a good way for the two sides to reach consensus and agreement in two steps or even three steps as the Sino-US strategies involve great complicacy," a veteran commentator surnamed Li told the Global Times.
"Seeking a the common ground for mutual benefit and leaving the problems aside; solving the simple problems initially before moving on to the complicated part , then to solving all the concerned issues. This will benefit not only the US, but also the world and global trade," he added.
A positive atmosphere hovered over the latest round of trade talks, as the two sides appear willing to find a way out during the two-day talks, amid hopes to reach a partial trade deal.
China is willing to engage in serious discussions with the US over trade balance, market access and investor protection, and for positive progress in the talks, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who led the delegation was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a letter to US President Donald Trump that "a healthy and steady China-US relationship serves the interest of our two countries and the world at large. I hope the two sides will act in the principle and direction you and I have agreed to, and work to advance China-US relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability."
US stocks soared on Friday over fresh signs of trade talks as The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.21 percent to close at 26,816.59, rising 319.92 points. NASDAQ index finished up 1.34 percent to 8,057.04 and S&P 500 was up 1.09 percent to 2,970.27.
However, experts hold a cautious attitude on the future of the trade war.
Zhuang told the Global Times on Saturday that what China and the US achieved is a periodic progress, a positive trend, but it is still early to say if there is a truce between the two countries, as many issues in bilateral, economic and trade relations persist and are needed to be further tackled.
A comprehensive final agreement is expected to be reached between China and the US but there is still a lot of work to be done due to uncertainties lying ahead, Zhuang said.
China has been promoting the bilateral trade relations with utmost sinceretiy to make progress in a positive development in a good direction. These substantial progress in the negotiations have not come by easily, and both sides need to work together to implement it, Bai, the expert from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times.
Differences of opinion will still remain for China and US to continue discussing, but they should not hinder what has been achieved, and the US should also show sincerity instead of backtracking and escalating trade conflicts, Bai noted.
Reuters reported that the US Department of Agriculture confirmed a net 1.18 million tons in soybean sales to China in the week ending October 3 and record sales of pork, including 18,810 tons this year and 123,362 tons in 2020.
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