US, Chinese officials exchange barbs at Shanghai event over trade

SHANGHAI – US and Chinese officials traded barbs at a celebration held by a US business chamber in Shanghai on June 6, as the chamber appealed to both countries to provide more certainty to American businesses operating in China.

Mr Scott Walker, Consul-General of US consulate in Shanghai, told a gathering of US businesses aimed at celebrating the 110th anniversary of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Shanghai that the US-China economic relationship has been unbalanced and non-reciprocal “for far too long”.

“We want an end to discriminatory actions and retaliation against US companies in China,” he said.

In a speech that directly followed Mr Walker’s, Mr Chen Jing, a Shanghai Communist Party official who is also the president of the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, countered Mr Walker’s view.

“I believe the Consul-General’s view is prejudiced, ungrounded and not aligning

with the phone call

of our heads of states last night,” he said.

The interaction reflects the continued strained relationship between both countries as the trade war continues to simmer.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke over a long anticipated call on June 5, confronting weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals. Mr Trump later said they agreed to further talks.

It came in the middle of a dispute between Washington and Beijing in recent weeks over “rare earths” minerals that threatened to tear up a fragile truce in the trade war between the two biggest economies.

The countries

struck a 90-day deal

on May 12 to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Mr Trump’s January inauguration but the deal has not addressed broader concerns that strain the relationship, and Mr Trump has accused China of violating the agreement.

Mr Eric Zheng, president of AmCham Shanghai which counts over 1,000 companies among its membership, told reporters on the sidelines of the event that many companies have put their decision-making on pause due to the uncertainty.

“People are looking for some more definitive, durable statements on both sides that enable businesses to feel more secure,” he said.

“Our No. 1 ask from the two governments is to give us some certainty so that we can plan accordingly.” REUTERS