Both US and China coming to ‘trade senses’?

President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable on immigration policy in California, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 16, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — May 16, 2018, 5:43 PM ET
The Latest on U.S.-China trade negotiations (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
The White House says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will lead talks Thursday and Friday with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He aimed at heading off a trade war between the world's two biggest economies. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and trade advisers Peter Navarro and Everett Eissenstat will also participate. The Trump administration has proposed tariffs on up to $150 billion in Chinese products to punish Beijing for forcing American companies to turn over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market. China has counterpunched by targeting $50 billion in U.S. products. Neither country has imposed the tariffs. Liu's visit to Washington is meant to defuse the conflict … for more, go to https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/latest-us-chinese-officials-head-off-trade-war-55218722 

Both US and China coming to ‘trade senses’?

KUALA LUMPUR (May 2018): Have the US and China finally come to their “trade senses” with the German-led European Union (EU) chipping in to help the Americans reduce their trade deficits?

The trade war between the US and China just cannot be allowed to continue to escalate as it is rocking the global economy.

With reports that the German-led EU is also trying to help reduce the US trade deficits together with China, there is much hope that the trade war would end as soon as possible.

The continuous slapping of trade sanctions and tariffs by both the US and China are leading both the No.1 and No.2 economies to nowhere.

Global economic order has been jolted and the world economy is unnecessary stressed.

I Love Malaysia-China Silk Road reproduces the following latest reports for the convenience of readers and followers to digest and form their own conclusions as to whether the trade war is beginning to end:

"US & China put trade war ‘on hold,’ agree more talks

Published time: 20 May, 2018 20:09

The US-China trade war is “on hold” after the world’s two largest economies agreed to stop threatening new tariffs ahead of further negotiations on a wider trade deal.

“We are putting the trade war on hold. Right now, we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told ‘Fox News Sunday.’

FoxNewsSunday✔@FoxNewsSunday

In an exclusive interview, @stevenmnuchin1 tells Chris: "We're putting the trade war on hold, so right now we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework."

10:37 PM - May 20, 2018

China and the US had threatened tariffs that would cost each of them billions of dollars, sparking fears of a full-scale trade war. On Saturday, China agreed to take measures to boost imports from the US to reduce its trade deficit. In earlier talks, Washington demanded that China reduce its trade surplus by $200 billion. No further details were given following the latest round of negotiations.

According to a joint statement, both sides agreed on meaningful increases in US agriculture and energy exports with the aim of helping to close the $335 billion annual US trade deficit with China.

RT✔@RT_com


China to buy more US goods - outcome of talks amid trade tensions https://on.rt.com/95n0 

2:20 AM - May 20, 2018

China will purchase more American goods and services in order to reduce the US trade deficit, the two nations, which are on the brink of a trade war, agreed during high-level consultations in...

rt.com

Mnuchin and Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the agreement reached by Chinese and American negotiators on Saturday set up a framework for addressing trade imbalances in the future.

Kudlow told ‘Face the Nation’ on CBS that it was too soon to confirm the $200 billion figure. “The details will be down the road. These things are not so precise,” he said.

Face The Nation✔@FaceTheNation

“The negotiations are proceeding very well. We're on the same page, too early for exact, precise details,” Kudlow says of negotiations with China.

11:14 PM - May 20, 2018

The National Economic Council Director added that no trade deal had been reached but communications were open. “We want China to open up markets, lower tariffs, lower non-tariff barriers, give us a chance...Now are we going to get everything? I don't know, but I will say this – we're making terrific progress,” he said.
U.S., China putting trade war on hold after progress in talks

By Martin Crutsinger and Paul Wiseman AP Economics Writers

15 hrs ago

United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, left, and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang attend a July 19 session at the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue between the U.S. and China, in Washington.
Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images file photo

WASHINGTON — The United States and China are pulling back from the brink of a trade war after the world’s two biggest economies reported progress in talks aimed at bringing down America’s massive trade deficit with Beijing.

“We are putting the trade war on hold,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday.

After high-level talks Thursday and Friday in Washington, Beijing agreed in a joint statement with the U.S. to “substantially reduce” America’s trade deficit with China, but did not commit to cut the gap by any specific amount. The Trump administration had sought to slash the deficit by $200 billion.

Still, Mnuchin said the two countries had made “meaningful progress” and that the administration has agreed to put on hold proposed tariffs on up to $150 billion in Chinese products. China had promised to retaliate in a move that threatened a tit for tat trade war.

He said they expect to see a big increase — 35 percent to 45 percent this year alone — in U.S. farm sales to China. Mnuchin also forecast a doubling in sales of U.S. energy products to the Chinese market, increasing energy exports by $50 billion to $60 billion in the next three years to five years.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who has been part of the U.S. negotiating team, will go to China soon to follow up on last week’s discussions, Mnuchin said.

In Saturday’s statement, Beijing committed to “significantly increase” its purchases of American goods and services, saying the increase would “meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development.”

Last year, the U.S. had a record $376 billion deficit with China in the trade of goods; that was the largest by far with any nation.

Trade analysts were not surprised that China refused to agree to a numerical target for cutting the trade gap, but they said the talks probably were more successful in easing trade tensions.

“The Trump administration seems eager to engineer at minimum a temporary peace with China to ensure a smooth run-up to the Kim-Trump summit in June,” Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad said, referring to the June 12 meeting scheduled between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

If there is success in the U.S.-China discussions, analysts suggest it likely would involve the countries’ presidents this fall before the November elections.

“Part of the good news for markets: As long as both sides continue to be ‘constructively’ engaged, imposition of additional tariffs by either side is very unlikely,” analysts at investment management firm Evercore ISI said in a research note. “There is no reason for either side — particularly the U.S. — to destroy the process that both sides are building, which is what imposing tariffs would do.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., praised the administration’s efforts with China.

“It’s smart to engage China on trade abuses, and it would also be smart to get them more involved in trying to help us with North Korea,” Graham said.

Trump campaigned in 2016 on a pledge to get tough on China and other U.S. trading partners. He views the U.S. trade deficit with China as evidence that Beijing is engaged in abusive trading practices and has outmaneuvered previous U.S. administrations.

Last August, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer began investigating Beijing’s strong-arm tactics to challenge U.S. technological dominance. These include outright cybertheft of U.S. companies’ trade secrets and China’s demands that American corporations hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese markets.

Last month, the administration proposed tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports to protest the forced technology transfers. Trump later ordered Lighthizer to seek up to an additional $100 billion in Chinese products to tax.

China responded by targeting $50 billion in U.S. products, including soybeans — a shot at Trump supporters in America’s heartland. The prospect of an escalating trade war has shaken financial markets and alarmed business leaders.

In a separate controversy, the Commerce Department last month blocked China’s ZTE Corp. from importing American components for seven years, accusing the telecommunications company of misleading U.S. regulators after it settled charges last year of violating sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

The ban amounted to a death sentence for ZTE, which relies heavily on U.S. parts, and the company announced that it was halting operations. A week ago, Trump tweeted that he was working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to put ZTE “back in business, fast.” Media reports suggested that the U.S. was offering to swap a ZTE rescue for an end to proposed Chinese tariffs on U.S. farm products.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Trump’s intervention in the case “outrageous” and said using ZTE “as a bargaining chip ... is not in the best interests of our national security.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said there could be “some small changes around the edges” in the sanctions against ZTE. But Kudlow added: “Do not expect ZTE to get off scot-free. It ain’t gonna happen.”

Mnuchin and Graham appeared on Fox News Sunday, Warner spoke on CNN’s State of the Union and Kudlow was interviewed on ABC’s This Week.

BUSINESS NEWS

MARCH 26, 2018 / 8:06 PM / 2 MONTHS AGO
Wall Street roars back as trade war fears fade

Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street scored its best day in 2-1/2 years and the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its third-biggest point gain ever on Monday, as trade war fears eased on reports the United States and China are willing to renegotiate tariffs and trade imbalances.

The rally, fueled by technology stocks, came on the heels of the indexes' worst weekly performance since January 2016, the S&P 500's .SPX gain making up for less than half of the prior week's near 6 percent loss.

“We saw a really good rally because of potential talks with China,” said Dennis Dick, Head of Markets Structure, Proprietary Trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas. “People are taking advantage of the huge dip last week.”

“I don’t think you’re out of the woods yet. There’s political uncertainty,” Dick added.

Last week’s drop was fueled in part by tensions surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to levy tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports, in addition to those imposed on solar panels, steel and aluminum.

But tensions were calmed as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang repeated pledges to maintain trade negotiations and ease access to American businesses.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday he believed Washington could reach agreement with China on some issues but tariffs would not be put on hold “unless we have an acceptable agreement that the president signs off on.”

“It’s clearly the easing of trade tensions. The comments by Steve Mnuchin late yesterday gave room for negotiation with China,” said Oliver Pursche, Chief Market Strategist at Bruderman Asset Management in New York.

But China did call for unity among World Trade Organization members to prevent the United States from “wrecking” the WTO, and urged opposition to Trump’s tariffs targeting China’s alleged intellectual property theft.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 669.4 points, or 2.84 percent, to 24,202.6. The two larger point gains for the Dow were in October 2008. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 70.29 points, or 2.72 percent, to 2,658.55 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 227.88 points, or 3.26 percent, to 7,220.54. 7,220.54
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