China trade

August 26, 2019

China blinks on trade, wants 'calm' talks

By Thomas Lifson

The corporate media will never admit it, but President Trump has masterfully lined up support for America's pressure on China, and China has blinked and now wants "calm" talks.  Reuters reports:

China is willing to resolve its trade dispute with the United States through "calm" negotiations and resolutely opposes the escalation of the conflict, Vice Premier Liu He, who has been leading the talks with Washington, said on Monday. (snip)

Liu, speaking at a tech conference in southwest China's Chongqing, said nobody benefited from a trade war.

"We are willing to resolve the issue through consultations and cooperation in a calm attitude and resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war," Liu, who is President Xi Jinping's top economic adviser, said, according to a government transcript.

"We believe that the escalation of the trade war is not beneficial for China, the United States, nor to the interests of the people of the world," he added.

U.S. companies are especially welcome in China, and will be treated well, Liu said.

Now that supply chains are rapidly shifting out of China, throwing millions out of work there, China sees the wisdom of "welcoming" U.S. companies.  But it is not Chinese hospitality that is at issue; it is the intellectual property theft, currency manipulation, and barriers to U.S. exports that U.S. tariff and trade policy are now retaliating against.  Those will not go away until China takes enforceable steps to play by the same rules other OECD members observe.

Speaking to reporters at the G7 conference in France, President Trump acknowledged the Chinese move:

"We've got two calls, very, very good calls, very productive calls," Trump told reporters. "They mean business."

Using his habitual technique, Trump once again lauded Xi personally as he turns the screws tighter on the Chinese economy:

"I have great respect for the fact that China called and they want to make a deal," Trump said, during a G-7 meeting in which allies have pressured the U.S. to ease up on the trade war with China. "I have great respect for President Xi."

Now Xi has to sell concessions to his own hardliners in the Chinese Politburo.  Dictator though he is, Xi knows well that his hold on power is not absolute.  Trump is playing him like a fiddle.