6/1/2018

AGRICULTURE/CHINA/ENERGY/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are haggling over how to get Beijing to carry out recent promises to purchase more American farm and energy products, with Washington pushing for long-term contracts that Chinese officials are reluctant to commit to. The snag is hanging over high-level negotiations scheduled for this weekend. U.S. administration officials, having said earlier that a lack of progress by the advance team might lead to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross canceling a trip to Beijing, said Mr. Ross remains scheduled to be in China on Saturday [6-2-18]. The plan is for two-days of talks in Beijing with China’s top trade negotiator, Liu He, but the White House’s recent moves to revive the threat of tariffs on Chinese imports have complicated the prospects for his mission. During the discussions, held by a U.S. advance team and its Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Thursday [5-31-18] and Friday [6-1-18], U.S. officials pressed their Chinese peers to commit to multiyear purchase agreements, according to people with knowledge of the exchanges from both sides. For the U.S., such pacts could be useful in prodding China to significantly lower tariffs and ease regulations and other barriers to imported goods. Chinese officials have been reluctant to get locked into long-term commitments, these people said. Beijing wants ‘control and leverage,’ one of them said.”

-Lingling Wei, “U.S., China Trade Negotiators Haggling Over Purchases of American Goods,” The Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2018 2:00 pm