Todd Bishop
The China-US trade war is about to escalate again on September 1. US President Trump said on August 29 that the two countries have held a new dialogue. The president of the American Chamber of Commerce called on Trump to immediately cancel the tariff.
US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox on August 29 that the United States and China are scheduled to hold “different levels” of trade negotiations on August 29.
He said: “Today has arranged a different level of talks.” He did not elaborate on which officials from both countries will participate in the dialogue.
Trump said: “We are dealing with China. They really want to reach an agreement. They want to reach an agreement because they have lost millions of jobs, they are losing thousands of companies, they are leaving China.”
A White House official told the US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) website that “the two sides still maintain communication at all levels.”
At the same time, the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce peaked at the press conference on August 29, Beijing time: “China’s counter-measures are sufficient. But under the current situation, we believe that the problem that should be discussed is to cancel the 550 billion. The US dollar has further imposed tariffs on Chinese goods to prevent the trade war from continuing to escalate. China is strictly negotiating with the US in this regard.”
He also said: “China has already stated its attitude. We firmly oppose the escalation of the trade war and are willing to resolve the issue through consultation and cooperation in a calm attitude. The escalation of the trade war is not conducive to China, not to the United States, and is not conducive to the interests of the people of the world.”
The China-US trade war has lasted for more than a year, and the two countries still do not give each other. The trade war will continue to escalate in September, and the two countries will impose tariffs on each other’s goods. Although Trump has always stressed that China has suffered a heavy blow. But in fact, the United States is also difficult to retreat.
The president of the American Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Donohue, warned on August 29 that the escalation of trade tensions may cause the US economy to decline, calling on Trump to immediately cancel tariffs and restart US-China economic and trade consultations.
Donohue published a paper on the Washington Post website stating that US corporate investment fell for the first time in three years due to the escalation of economic and trade frictions and weak global economic growth. At the same time, US manufacturing has also declined since December 2018, and farm income has fallen sharply. This month, the emergence of the “yield curve of the US bond market” has caused investors to panic. Historically, this is a harbinger of economic recession.
Donohue pointed out that economic expansion usually ends with policy mistakes. The biggest mistake the US can make now is to further increase uncertainty and expose the US economy to a greater recession risk. He said that the current US government’s decisive measures to avoid a recession is crucial, which means that trade tensions with China must end.
At the same time, former US government official and Harvard professor Jason Furman published an article in the Wall Street Journal on August 19th entitled “Trump is losing trade war with China.” The article said that Trump’s strategy for China is failing. His tough means did not allow China to make any meaningful concessions, but instead continually hurt the US economy. Today’s China is more closely integrated with the world, while the United States is increasingly isolated. In order to effectively combat China’s unfair and strictly controlled economic behavior, the United States must change its approach and strive to allow allies and international organizations to advance a more focused package.
The article said that the United States should deepen its relationship with partner countries, including re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), which does not include China. The article also said that the Trump administration should give up the purchase list. Asking China to buy more Boeing aircraft will not allow Europe to stand on the US side in the trade war. Such a request may further consolidate the economic model controlled by the Chinese government, and in the long run, it will have no benefit to the US economy.
