Its mission is arduous: establish a sustainable commercial dialogue between China and the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang is expected in Washington this week to address a certain number of issues related to commercial negotiations between the two countries. The WSJ informs that the Chinese envoy, the right hand man of the head negotiator He Lifeng, must meet with attendees of the commercial representative and officials of the Treasury Department, as well as the members of the world of US business.
Described as a “hard and effective” negotiator, according to Fuentes interviewed by The Daily, Li Chenggang is familiar with commercial negotiations, he was remarkably permanent representative of China with the World Trade Organization. This visit occurs when China and the United States have agreed to an additional truce in customs duties until November, accepting softening the rules of exports of certain key products, including the magnets of rare earths of China and certain American technological products.
Soybean, fentanyl and electronic components
This week’s discussions will focus, among other things, on the American soy of China, a request from the Trump administration that is currently not followed by the effects, China has not yet placed an order, while the harvest must begin in September. According to the sources contacted by the Wall Street Journal, China also wants to see the surcharges of 20% linked to the fentanyl trade, but Beijing has not currently submitted a proposal considered adequate to combat the traffic of ingredients (“chemical precursors”) used in the production of this medication.
Li Chenggang must also continue to press to soften the conditions to import American technological components. In July, the Trump administration had raised the prohibition of H20 electronic chips sales from NVIDIA to China. For its part, the United States is preparing to strengthen the control of its copper, steel and lithium imports, to comply with the prohibition of importing products from forced labor in the Xinjiang region and, in general, aligning with the objectives of reduction of the commercial deficit with China.
A meeting is not excluded between the American leader and his Chinese counterpart, even if she is not yet on the agenda. Apart from a visit to South Korea, Donald Trump said he would probably go “probably by the end of the year or beginning of the next” in China to meet Xi Jinping.
Source: BFM TV
