China Maintains Negotiating Stance Ahead of Trade Talks
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There’s no change to China’s conditions for making a trade deal with the United States as the nations’ leaders prepare to meet this weekend, a government spokesman said.
“China’s core concerns must be addressed properly,” Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said at a regular briefing in Beijing on June 27, when asked about the three demands laid out by Vice Premier Liu He in May.
To reach an agreement, the United States must remove all extra tariffs, set targets for Chinese purchases of goods in line with real demand and ensure that the text of the deal is “balanced” to ensure the “dignity” of both nations, according to Liu.
“We hope the U.S. side could drop its wrong practices, and we can solve the problems through equal dialogue and cooperation,” Gao said.
China President Xi Jinping (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg News)
The trade teams are in contact to prepare for the meeting, and the respective negotiators had a good phone call earlier in the week, Gao said, without clarifying whether the trade teams will meet in Osaka, Japan, before the leaders’ encounter.
Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also briefed reporters in Beijing on June 27.
“The U.S.’ threat to add tariffs cannot scare us,” Geng said. “The Chinese people refuse to be misled and will not be intimidated. So I would like to offer a piece of advice to the U.S. — starting a trade war and adding tariffs harms itself and others.”
