China-US 90-day tariff truce should be extended, Global Times says
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Analysts say Beijing is unlikely to rush to announce how exactly it will meet all of its pledges.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIJING - The 90-day tariff truce agreed by the US and China during trade talks in Switzerland last weekend is too short, China’s state-backed Global Times said on May 16, as envoys from the world’s two biggest economies regrouped in South Korea.
During the Geneva summit, the US agreed to cut the extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports
“The window for mutually beneficial cooperation should extend far beyond a mere 90-day period,” said the Global Times, which is owned by the newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, People’s Daily, and has often been the first to report China’s next steps in trade disagreements over the last few years.
“Hopefully, the US side will build on the outcomes of the recent talks and continue to meet China halfway.”
Beijing also agreed to pause or remove the non-tariff countermeasures it has imposed on the US since April 2, although China so far has only paused its decision to add around 50 US firms to various lists restricting their ability to trade and invest.
In addition to easing the curbs, China agreed to lift export countermeasures issued after April 2, raising prospects for the lifting of restrictions on rare-earth minerals, which Beijing has not yet clarified its position on.
Analysts say Beijing is unlikely to rush to announce how exactly it will meet all of its pledges.
“There is no point in China clarifying the non-tariff barriers it plans to lift to give itself the flexibility it wants,” said Dr Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group.
“The tariffs will likely go back up after 90 days and China may sign some purchase agreements, but the non-tariff barriers will be important in future talks.”
China’s Commerce Ministry did not respond specifically to questions on what non-tariff barriers it would lift – rather than pause – during a regular May 15 news conference.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met Chinese trade envoy Li Chenggang on May 15 on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting on South Korea’s Jeju Island.
Neither side has provided details on the substance of that meeting.
During a separate Apec trade ministers’ meeting, Mr Li urged his counterparts to take action against economies that disrupt global trade flows through the use of tariffs, without singling out the US or any other country, a Chinese Commerce Ministry statement said. REUTERS
