Relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest in a long time amid disputes over trade, expertise, human rights and China’s more and more aggressive strategy towards its territorial claims involving self-governing Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Jason Lee | Reuters
BEIJING — China’s ambassador to the U.S., Xie Feng, has blamed U.S. tariffs and export controls for a drop in trade between the two international locations.
That’s in keeping with a speech he gave by way of video on Tuesday at Forbes’ U.S.-China Business Forum in New York, printed on-line by the Chinese embassy in the U.S.
China-U.S. trade fell by 14.5% in the first half of the yr from a yr in the past, Xie identified.
“This is a direct consequence of U.S. strikes to levy Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, abuse unilateral sanctions and additional tighten up export controls,” he mentioned.
“Livelihoods of many households have been affected, and companies from each international locations have born the brunt.”
China’s trade companions
The U.S. is China’s largest buying and selling accomplice on a single nation foundation.
Year-to-date, U.S.-China trade fell additional in July with a 15.4% decline from the identical interval in 2022, China customs knowledge confirmed.
To shut out China is to shut the door on alternatives, cooperation, stability and growth.
Xie Feng
China’s ambassador to the U.S.
“The largest danger is any decoupling between China and the United States, and the largest supply of insecurity comes from any confrontation between the two,” he mentioned.
“To shut out China is to shut the door on alternatives, cooperation, stability and growth.”
Exports stay a significant contributor to China’s economic system, though their share has fallen in latest years.
The U.S. authorities on Wednesday revised down second-quarter domestic product to a 2.1% annualized tempo, opposite to expectations there can be no revision, Reuters mentioned. The report mentioned decrease enterprise spending on tools contributed to the revision.
Xie on Tuesday referred to as for locating “a path for increasing mutually helpful financial cooperation and trade between China and the United States.”
“Going ahead, we have to proceed taking concrete steps, regardless of how small they might look,” he mentioned, giving examples — akin to making it simpler for folks to journey between the two international locations, and renewing an settlement to cooperate on science and expertise.
On a regional foundation, the European Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations are China’s largest buying and selling companions. Those trade flows have additionally dropped this yr — albeit at a extra reasonable tempo — amid a decline in international demand.
Xie on Tuesday identified China’s international dominance in trade and in industries akin to electrical autos. He famous that France, the U.Okay. and Japan had considerably elevated their international funding in China in the first half of the yr.
“More efforts will likely be made to guard international funding and guarantee nationwide remedy for foreign-invested enterprises,” he mentioned.
U.S. Commerce Secretary visits China
In his remarks, Xie famous U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s trip to China this week. Following her conferences with Chinese authorities officers, the U.S. and China agreed to establish regular communication channels on commerce, export controls and defending trade secrets and techniques.
Raimondo advised reporters mentioned she “mentioned no” to China’s requests to scale back export controls and “retract” the govt order on outbound funding screening.
“We do not negotiate on issues of nationwide safety,” she mentioned.
Instead of containing China, it’s going to solely curtail the proper of American companies to develop in China.
Xie Feng
China’s ambassador to the U.S.
The U.S. authorities has cited nationwide safety issues for its strikes to limit Chinese corporations’ purchases of superior semiconductors from U.S. companies.
In 2018, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, to which Beijing responded with tariffs of its personal.
Xie claimed that common U.S. tariffs on Chinese merchandise have been 19%, whereas the Chinese tariffs on U.S. items averaged 7.3%.
“Is this truthful? Does this really serve U.S. pursuits?”
The ambassador assumed his role in May after a interval of about six months in which China had no ambassador to the U.S.
In August, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed toward limiting U.S. investments into Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing and synthetic intelligence corporations over nationwide safety issues. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is principally accountable for figuring out the particulars, which at the moment stay open to public remark.
Xie referred to as the govt order “a violation of the precept of free trade.”
“It is merely complicated that the United States, which repeatedly urged China to develop entry for international funding in the previous, is now imposing restrictions itself,” he mentioned. “Instead of containing China, it’s going to solely curtail the proper of American companies to develop in China.”
As half of Raimondo’s journey to China, the U.S. commerce secretary mentioned she spoke with greater than 100 companies and more and more heard from them that “China is uninvestible as a result of it is turn into too dangerous.”
“My message was there is a need to do enterprise, however we want predictability, due course of and a degree taking part in area,” Raimondo added in an unique interview with CNBC’s Eunice Yoon on Wednesday.