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Murky future for US-China tradetalks at 100-day mark

WASHINGTON — Big gaps remained between the United States and China as they could not agree on any major new steps to reduce Washington’s trade deficit with Beijing, after a 100-day period of negotiations launched in April by the leaders of both sides.

WASHINGTON — Big gaps remained between the United States and China as they could not agree on any major new steps to reduce Washington’s trade deficit with Beijing, after a 100-day period of negotiations launched in April by the leaders of both sides.

While they pledged to resolve their economic differences after two days of high-level talks that ended on Wednesday, the absence of concrete measures has cast doubt over Mr Donald Trump’s economic and security relations with Beijing.

Mr Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary, told the Financial Times the US had taken a “very big step” towards addressing its deficit with China, that Beijing had “heard ... the marching orders” Mr Trump had given his team, and that both sides were ready to start working on specifics. Mr Wilbur Ross, US Commerce Secretary, said he expected to negotiate dates and targets in coming talks.

Mr Wang Yang, a Chinese Vice-Premier and head of his country’s delegation, said both sides had “agreed to work constructively together to reduce (the) deficit”.

The US and China had reached “broad consensus on a wide range of issues” and “shared the view that the most important outcome of this round of the dialogue is that it has charted the course for China-US economic cooperation”, he said in a statement provided to the Financial Times.

Mr Evan Medeiros, the White House Asia adviser during the Obama administration who is now at Eurasia Group, noted that the meetings “had all the signs — no joint statement, on press conference, no outcomes — of serious and sustained tensions rapidly emerging due to deep differences”. He added that the US and China had produced no details for the one-year plan that Mr Trump and Mr Xi agreed would follow after the first 100 days.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi Jinping launched a 100-day economic plan that has produced some industry-specific announcements, such as the resumption of US beef sales in China and a pledge to grant limited US access to some financial services sectors. But there have been no new initiatives since, and Mr Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with China’s lack of pressure on North Korea. His administration has threatened new sanctions against small Chinese banks and other firms doing business with Pyongyang.

Sitting alongside Mr Ross at the Treasury, Mr Mnuchin said the US side had stressed that Mr Trump wanted a “more balanced and reciprocal” trading relationship. “China acknowledged our shared objective to reduce the trade deficit, which both sides will work cooperatively to achieve,” added the two men in a brief statement.

One person briefed on the talks said the American delegation adopted a more robust approach. They “did not want to settle for the crumbs the Chinese were offering”, especially after being criticised for being outplayed by the Chinese earlier this year, said the person.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington cast the talks in a positive light, saying in a statement that both sides had acknowledged “significant progress”. “The two sides will expand areas of cooperation in services and increase trade in services; expand mutual investment, and create a more open, equitable, transparent and convenient investment environment.”

An editorial this week in official Chinese tabloid Global Times urged Washington to take a “fair look” at Sino-US trade. It noted that China’s exports to America are legitimate and based on World Trade Organisation rules. “To a large extent, Washington has itself to blame for the unbalanced trade between China and the US. It excludes its most competitive products, but wants to sell China commodities that can’t compete with those made in China,” said the editorial. “China has put much effort into alleviating the trade imbalance with the US ... Washington should squarely face its problems and re-adjust its policies.”

Investors interpreted the negative signals from the talks as making it more likely that Mr Trump would forge ahead with broad steel tariffs or quotas based on a national security review, sending steelmakers’ shares soaring. Mr Trump, asked by a reporter at the White House after the stock market closed whether he would impose steel tariffs, said: “Could happen.”AGENCIES

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