US seeks to smooth trade relations with China in talks

WASHINGTON: After riding a wave of anti-trade feeling to the White House, the Trump administration is taking a more traditional approach to resolving issues with China: a formal structure of talks that makes gradual, sometimes glacial progress.

Expectations among trade experts are restrained that the first round of talks Wednesday will produce results on long-standing issues with Beijing, such as the massive trade deficit or global overproduction of steel and aluminum.

While President Donald Trump early on attacked China for unfair trade practices, his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his Florida resort in April prompted a change of rhetoric and launching a 100-day economic cooperation plan.

That led to specific but narrow achievements, including opening the Chinese market to US beef exports, and pledges to remove barriers to US credit card transactions and other financial services, including bond underwriting, that were to be concluded prior to the Wednesday meeting.

Meanwhile, Trump followed his two predecessors in launching a mechanism for regular talks to be led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, along with China´s Vice Premier Wang Yang.

It was rebranded as the US-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED), but, "It doesn´t matter what you call it," said Jake Colvin, vice president of the National Foreign Trade Council. The regular "high-level economic dialogue" can be a "useful vehicle for defusing tensions and working through disputes," he told AFP.

But some experts are skeptical the talks, however improved by narrowing the focus compared to the Obama administration´s broader approach, will prompt China to open its market further.