US, China talk trade despite tensions
WASHINGTON: Top US and Chinese officials held trade talks here Tuesday amid persistent tensions between the world's two largest economies over currency issues and allegations of protectionism.
US officials were likely to again hammer home their message that China must do more to open its doors to American exports as the United States frets over the slow pace of economic growth.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, heading up a 100-strong delegation, met with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and was also to hold talks with US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
The closed-door meetings were set to end Wednesday with a joint news conference.
Geithner and Wang "discussed developments in the global economy and their cooperative efforts to strengthen economic recovery," Treasury spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth said in a statement late Tuesday.
"They discussed the importance of accelerating efforts to promote strong, sustained and more balanced growth and reducing barriers to foreign trade and investment," she said, adding that they reviewed the economic agenda for the January state visit of President Hu Jintao to Washington.
Ahead of the talks Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Beijing hoped the "two sides will have an exchange of views on trade, investment, agriculture products quarantine, technological standards, intellectual property rights and bilateral cooperation in other areas in an in-depth manner."
But the disparate economic view from Washington and Beijing has fueled US anger at perceived Chinese protectionism.
And Washington has charged that Beijing is deliberately keeping the yuan weak to aid Chinese manufacturers.
"As for trade differences between China and the US, we always hold that the two should solve relevant issues though candid dialogue and through consultations through normal channels," Jiang said.
Wang also had a meeting at the White House with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, which officials said before it took place would range across a full docket of economic and national security issues including North Korea.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs meanwhile said that the US side expected to announce exact dates for Hu's state visit within days.
The talks came amid congressional moves to sanction Beijing.
Two US senators on Monday sought to introduce legislation targeting China over alleged currency manipulation by tying it to a bill championed by President Barack Obama to avert a massive New Year's tax increase.
Republican Olympia Snowe and Democrat Sherrod Brown said they had introduced the "Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act" as an amendment to the tax measure.
The act would direct the Commerce Department to treat deliberate currency undervaluation as a forbidden export subsidy, paving the way for countervailing duties on exports from the offending country.
Though the effort was not expected to succeed, it reflected persistent congressional anger about China's huge trade surplus with the United States.
Critics say China keeps its yuan undervalued to gain a trade advantage that is costing US jobs.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday rejected Beijing's complaint against punitive US tariffs on Chinese tires, a landmark ruling on safeguards invoked by Washington against disruptive imports from the Asian giant.
The US "did not fail to comply with its obligations," the ruling by the WTO dispute settlement panel said.
Washington welcomed the ruling as a vindication of its policies, but scores of other disputes are still being considered by the WTO.
Beijing said Tuesday it regretted the WTO decision and would appeal "at an appropriate time."
A recent surge in US exports has done little to dispel the feeling in Washington that China has not done enough to rebalance global trade.
The US trade deficit narrowed sharply in October as exports surged on the back of a weaker dollar and the politically sensitive gap with China shrank 8.3 percent, to 25.5 billion dollars.
A succession of global economic meetings, from gatherings of the International Monetary Fund to the Group of 20, have been dominated by trade tensions between the United States and China.
With little concrete action toward resolving the disputes, they threaten to engulf Hu's state visit in January, which is widely seen as an important deadline for China to let the value of the yuan increase.
US officials were likely to again hammer home their message that China must do more to open its doors to American exports as the United States frets over the slow pace of economic growth.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, heading up a 100-strong delegation, met with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and was also to hold talks with US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
The closed-door meetings were set to end Wednesday with a joint news conference.
Geithner and Wang "discussed developments in the global economy and their cooperative efforts to strengthen economic recovery," Treasury spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth said in a statement late Tuesday.
"They discussed the importance of accelerating efforts to promote strong, sustained and more balanced growth and reducing barriers to foreign trade and investment," she said, adding that they reviewed the economic agenda for the January state visit of President Hu Jintao to Washington.
Ahead of the talks Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Beijing hoped the "two sides will have an exchange of views on trade, investment, agriculture products quarantine, technological standards, intellectual property rights and bilateral cooperation in other areas in an in-depth manner."
But the disparate economic view from Washington and Beijing has fueled US anger at perceived Chinese protectionism.
And Washington has charged that Beijing is deliberately keeping the yuan weak to aid Chinese manufacturers.
"As for trade differences between China and the US, we always hold that the two should solve relevant issues though candid dialogue and through consultations through normal channels," Jiang said.
Wang also had a meeting at the White House with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, which officials said before it took place would range across a full docket of economic and national security issues including North Korea.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs meanwhile said that the US side expected to announce exact dates for Hu's state visit within days.
The talks came amid congressional moves to sanction Beijing.
Two US senators on Monday sought to introduce legislation targeting China over alleged currency manipulation by tying it to a bill championed by President Barack Obama to avert a massive New Year's tax increase.
Republican Olympia Snowe and Democrat Sherrod Brown said they had introduced the "Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act" as an amendment to the tax measure.
The act would direct the Commerce Department to treat deliberate currency undervaluation as a forbidden export subsidy, paving the way for countervailing duties on exports from the offending country.
Though the effort was not expected to succeed, it reflected persistent congressional anger about China's huge trade surplus with the United States.
Critics say China keeps its yuan undervalued to gain a trade advantage that is costing US jobs.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday rejected Beijing's complaint against punitive US tariffs on Chinese tires, a landmark ruling on safeguards invoked by Washington against disruptive imports from the Asian giant.
The US "did not fail to comply with its obligations," the ruling by the WTO dispute settlement panel said.
Washington welcomed the ruling as a vindication of its policies, but scores of other disputes are still being considered by the WTO.
Beijing said Tuesday it regretted the WTO decision and would appeal "at an appropriate time."
A recent surge in US exports has done little to dispel the feeling in Washington that China has not done enough to rebalance global trade.
The US trade deficit narrowed sharply in October as exports surged on the back of a weaker dollar and the politically sensitive gap with China shrank 8.3 percent, to 25.5 billion dollars.
A succession of global economic meetings, from gatherings of the International Monetary Fund to the Group of 20, have been dominated by trade tensions between the United States and China.
With little concrete action toward resolving the disputes, they threaten to engulf Hu's state visit in January, which is widely seen as an important deadline for China to let the value of the yuan increase.
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