US officials downplay hopes of ending trade ban on China

Get free US-China trade dispute updates

we will send you one myFT Daily Digest Latest Email Rounding US-China trade dispute News every morning.

Top Biden administration officials played down hopes for an immediate easing of tariffs against China on Sunday, though they signaled room for a more constructive relationship with Beijing.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in India, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she looks forward to working more closely with China on areas of “mutual concern” following a four-day visit earlier this month. was eager to do. Said to keep the relationship at a “certain level”.

However, at a press conference following his remarks, he stressed that while it would be useful to identify ways to reduce tensions over time, easing trade restrictions would be “premature”.

“The tariffs were imposed because we had concerns about unfair trade practices on the part of China, and we continue to have concerns about those practices. In fact they have not been addressed and China has imposed its own retaliatory tariffs,” he told reporters.

“Perhaps over time this is an area where we can make progress, but I would say it is too early to use it as an area of ​​stress reduction, at least at the moment.”

The US is completing a four-year review of trade tariffs.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed dismay on Sunday at what he called a “self-defeating move” by China to impose export controls on materials critical to manufacturing computer chips starting Aug. 1.

He told CBS News, “We’re not looking to eliminate all trade with China, what we’re looking to do is add a small yard of restrictions on technology with national security implications, and a yard around that yard.” Have to put up a high fence.”

“That’s what we’re going to continue to do, and China, of course, has to make its own decisions.”

The Biden administration is considering ways to prevent US investment from helping China’s military. During her visit to Beijing, Yellen said that these controls would be “highly targeted and clearly focused on certain areas where we have specific national security concerns”.

Sullivan said on Sunday that he hoped China’s President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping would speak again “at some point”.

“It’s a big, complex, challenging relationship that has to be managed carefully and can only really be done effectively from the top.”

Washington has increased its diplomatic outreach to Beijing in recent weeks, with the president’s climate envoy John Kerry becoming the third cabinet member to visit China.

Kerry, who arrived on Sunday, is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua and other officials in three days of meetings.