Rush Of Sino US Economic And Trade Consultation: Two More Days For The Seventh Round Of High Level Consultation

With the deadline of March 1 approaching, the Sino US economic and trade consultation has obviously accelerated and is entering a sprint period.

At a press conference of the Ministry of Commerce on February 21, Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said that the working level of China and the United States had started work on February 19, and the high-level consultation was held from 21 to 22. On the basis of the last high-level consultation, the two sides will further in-depth communication on relevant economic and trade issues.

Summit said that the purpose of such intensive consultations between the economic and trade teams of the two sides is to strive to reach an agreement in accordance with the consensus of the two heads of state.

According to the consensus reached at the meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States in Argentina, China and the United States will step up consultations and reach a trade agreement before March 1, which will cancel the tariffs imposed since 2018, and promote the bilateral economic and trade relations to return to the normal track as soon as possible. Until then, the two sides will not upgrade tariff measures.

The analysis shows that the current negotiations are moving in a positive direction. Both sides hope to reach the above-mentioned agreement on time, but the possibility of extending the negotiation period is not ruled out.

In response to reports that China and the United States are drafting six memoranda of understanding on the core issues of trade disputes and studying 10 measures that can reduce the trade surplus between China and the United States, the Ministry of Commerce responded that there is no more information to disclose about the specific contents of the memorandum of understanding.

Sino US economic and trade negotiations are going on and on

From February 14 to 15, the Chinese team led by Liu He, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, vice premier of the State Council and Chinese leader of the China US comprehensive economic dialogue, held two-day high-level consultations in Beijing with a high-level US delegation led by US trade representative lethizer and Treasury Secretary manuchin.

This week, the teams of the two sides began the seventh round of China US high level economic and trade consultations in Washington.

According to the summit, the working level of China and the United States began work on February 19, and the high-level consultation was held from 21 to 22. On the basis of the last high-level consultation, the two sides will further in-depth communication on relevant economic and trade issues.

"The purpose of such intensive consultations between the economic and trade teams of the two sides is to strive to reach an agreement in accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state. As for the specific progress of the consultation, no further information will be released until the consultation is over. "

Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, told the 21st century economic report that the recent economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States have increased significantly. On the one hand, the current negotiations are moving in a positive direction. Both China and the United States hope to strike while the iron is hot and seek and expand consensus. On the other hand, the deadline for March 1 is getting closer and closer, and both sides hope to reach it before this time Into an agreement.

At the beginning of December last year, during the meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States, Argentina, the two countries agreed on a 90 day "cease-fire period", that is, before March 1, the two sides will not upgrade tariff measures, and use this time window to speed up negotiations to reach a trade agreement.

Bai Ming said that at present, both sides still hope to complete the negotiation before this deadline, but does not rule out the possibility of postponement of the negotiation. "Trump's claim that March 1 is" not a magical day "actually implies an extension. At present, both sides are actively striving to avoid "a long night's dream". However, due to the complexity of the issues involved, we can't rush to some complex issues. It is also an option to extend the negotiation period. "

Bai Ming said that the previous meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States in Argentina was an important turning point in Sino US economic and trade relations. At present, the negotiations between the two countries are carried out to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state. The head of state diplomacy plays a crucial role in resolving Sino US economic and trade frictions.

Consultations have been held on the MOU

At the press conference, some media quoted relevant reports as saying that China and the United States have, in principle, drafted six memoranda of understanding on the core issues of trade disputes such as compulsory technology transfer, intellectual property rights, service industry, exchange rate, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade, and is studying a list of 10 measures that China can reduce its trade surplus with the United States, including purchasing agricultural products, energy and semiconductors Products, etc.

In response to the confirmation of the above report, Gao Feng said that there was no more information to disclose about the Mou and other specific contents.

Bai Ming pointed out that during the negotiations in Beijing last week, the two sides had already held specific consultations on the memorandum of understanding on bilateral economic and trade issues. At that time, the two sides had in-depth exchanges on issues such as technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, service industry, agriculture, trade balance and implementation mechanism, and expressed that the two sides reached consensus in principle on major issues.

He said that in terms of form, the memorandum of understanding is a framework commitment to the consultation, which can outline the scope and implementation direction of relevant issues, and has no punishment mechanism. He predicted that on the basis of the MOU, there might be many implementation mechanisms, specific agreements, laws and regulations and other treaties as well as commercial contracts.

Bai Ming believes that in terms of content, Sino US economic and trade negotiations are no longer limited to border measures such as tariffs, but extend to more extensive areas such as domestic institutional mechanisms, competitive environment and industrial subsidies. "This means that in the field of structural reform, the consultation faces many difficulties. There are a lot of "hard bones" to chew. We are open-minded about the contents that conform to the direction of China's reform and opening up, but we can't accept some issues, such as restricting the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry and developing high-end manufacturing industry. Our bottom line is clear. "

He said that China has taken better protection measures in terms of technology transfer and intellectual property rights. For example, the foreign investment law, which is being formulated, clearly stipulates that foreign investors shall not be forced to transfer technology.

"In terms of opening up, China's tariff has been reduced from 15.3% to 9.8%, and now to 7.5%. China is actively reducing the tariff on goods to expand imports. In the future, China's opening up in the fields of pension, medical care, education and other services also has great potential, and the United States has the demand for market access, which may become a key point of negotiation."

In addition, China is very willing to expand the import of high-tech products from the United States, including the import of semiconductors. However, over the years, the export control of the United States in the field of high-tech to China has become increasingly tight, which is an important reason for the huge trade surplus between China and the United States.

Bai Ming believes that China is willing to expand imports of agricultural products, energy, semiconductors and other products from the United States on the premise of ensuring the safety of downstream enterprises, but the United States can not use this to coerce Chinese enterprises. China should also maintain a certain degree of substitutability, and should not be "choked" by other countries. We should also pay attention to the impact of this part of imports on domestic independent R & D capacity and domestic related industries 。

In terms of exchange rate, Bai Ming stressed that China has never deliberately manipulated the exchange rate. Since the emergence of trade frictions between China and the United States, what China has mainly done is to pursue the stability of the RMB exchange rate. Maintaining currency stability is what Japan and the European Central Bank have been doing. What's more, the so-called exchange rate manipulation is to devalue the RMB, which the United States does not want to see. What the Central Bank of China does is to prevent the RMB from devaluing too quickly. It is easy for China and the United States to reach a consensus in this respect.

(Editor: Chen Jie, for suggestions, please contact: xiakt @ 21jingji. Com)