A Fresh Take on Trade Frictions

<正>China seeks win-win economic and trade relations with the U.S.but does notfear a trade warChina has faced mounting pressure from trade conf licts with the United States in recent years,and it is widely expected that the situation will become more tense as a result of the Trump administration’s forthcoming policies on China.The United States launched 11 anti-dumping and nine anti-subsidy investigations against     

SEIZING THE MOMENT

April is a critical time for stakeholders to hammer out trade differences between China and the U.S.China and the United States have entered a crucial time in their economic relationship, with expectations high leading into two significant events taking place this month. Trade officials from China and the United States were scheduled to meet April 11 for the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, while nine davs later. Chinese President Hu     

A STRONG LINK

Trade frictions should not affect the mainstream of Sino-U.S. mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation China and the United States have a complicated relationship, one that can be called a competitive partnership. The U.S. trade deficit with China, its third largest trading partner, hit a staggering $201.6 billion last year, an imbalance that is a major bone of contention. Yet, while frictions over trade, intellectual property rights and other issues grab the headlines, there is strong-and growing-financial and economic cooperation between the two nations. Although substantial differences exist, in the economic as well as cultural and international arenas the two countries increasingly appear to be playing the same tune.     

An Unfair Accusation

The trade imbalance between China and the United States is becoming a tool for Washington to pursue its "America First" ob-jective. U.S. President Donald Trump has on several occasions threatened to impose steep tariffs on com-modities from China and other countries because he sees the United States as "the victim of a global trade war." In January, the Trump administration imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on imports of washing ma-chines and solar panels, coming mostly from South Korea and China, respectively. The latest data from China Customs show that China's exports to the U.S. market reached 2.91 tril-lion yuan ($465.2 bilion) in 2017, while imports from the United States amounted to 1.04 trillion yuan ($166.2 billion). China's trade surplus against the United States was 1.87 trilion yuan ($298.9 bilion), up 13 percent from of 2016. But is the trade imbal-ance realy unfair to the United States? Is it fair to judge the trade relationship simply on the basis of surplus or deif cit?     

DIPLOMATIC DYNAMICS

China and U.S.Healthy and stable economic and trade relations between China and the United States serve the interests of both countries,Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a recent telephone conversation with U.S.President Barack Obama.     

Don’t Blame RMB Appreciation

The United States seems serious about for cing a sharp and rapid appreciation of the Chinese currency. So serious in fact that the U.S . Senate Finance Committee and Senate Banking Committee passed two recent billsto this effect. The action is a clear indication of the way some Americans areth in king , brin g ing to the for e the belief that appreciating the renminbi willease the U.S trade deficit with China and reduce the hammering beingmeted out to some U.S . industries. Xia Bin, Director of the Finance ResearchInstitute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, chal-lenges the thinking in an article published in China Business News . Excerpt s follow:     

World Could Pay For Yuan Appreciation

Debating whether China's yuan is undervalued is a hot topic of conversation between China and its major trading partners, particularly the United States, which has a large trade deficit with China. Soon after the Second Meeting of the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue focused on this topic in May, some U.S. senators proposed a bill that is widely recog- nized as aiming to force the acceleration of appreciation of the yuan. But Professor Liu Zhibiao, Dean of the School of Economics of Nanjing University, points out one salient fact: With the increase of foreign invest- ment and rising level of trade openness, China is contributing more and more to the world's economic growth, with the benefits of this growth being shared by the whole world. Therefore, the cost of sharp appreciation in the value of the Chinese currency will exert impact on the whole world, he says.     

Codependency to Conflict?

正Scapegoating China puts both countries’most valuable partnership at riskThe world’s most important economic relationship is in serious trouble.Long drawn together by the mutual benefi ts of codependency—an export-led China relying on U.S.demand and a savingshort United States in need of low-cost Chinese imports and surplus foreign capital—the air is now thick with tension.The United States’shifting stance on trade policy is hardly surprising.In his inau-     

Rethinking China-U.S. Economic Ties

<正>In 2014,China-U.S.trade,standing at$650 billion,was the largest between any two countries in the world outside the North American Free Trade Area(Canada,Mexico and the United States).For the United States,it was second only to trade with Canada—the latter now being almost a domestic base for U.S. production.For the 2007-14 period,namely,since the beginning of the global financial crisis, U.S. trade with Canada increased by$121 billion,but that with China increased     

The Takeaway From the Failed U.S. High-Speed Rail Deal

正What is the most important lesson that China should learn from the recent termination of its U.S.rail deal?It is not that the overseas markets are complicated or that trade protectionism threats are lurking.What it demonstrates is that the United States cannot keep up with the times,and its public cannot rid themselves of vested interests,     

FIRM IN GLOBALIZATION

正In blaming other countries for U.S.economic woes,the administration of President Donald Trump has ignited a trade war with the United States’major trading partners,including China,South Korea,Japan and the European Union.Are tariffs on international trade really the answer to domestic issues in the United States?How will the events in the coming weeks and months affect global economic growth,technological progress and the future of globalization?And who will be the real     

Trade Tokens

In the pursuit of balanced trade with the U.S., China pours it on where it counts A week ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's first state visit to the United States, Beijing and Washington reached a series of agreements intended to ease the bilateral trade imbalance, including resuming trade in U.S. beef, increasing Chinese market access to U.S. medical devices, telecom services and express delivery, and cracking down on intellectual property rights infringements.     

A Game With No Winners

正Open and free trade is in the interests of China,the U.S.and the world In October 1929,the U.S.stock market crashed.Over the course of the following weeks and months,billions of dollars in wealth evaporated,banks failed,companies collapsed,and millions of ordinary people in the United States and around the     

A New Deal on the Cards?

<正>Economic cooperation between China and the U.S.is of paramount importance As a candidate for president of the United States,Donald Trump’s criticism of China was frequent and often incendiary.The then real estate mogul and reality television host accused the world’s second-largest economy of"cheating"American businesses and"raping"the U.S.economy with unfair trade practices and currency manipulation—charges dismissed as false by Chinese offi cials.Undeterred,Trump threatened to slap a 45 percent retaliatory tariff on Chinese goods entering the U.S.     

A Due Regard for Multilateralism

A World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrator on January 26 ruled on the case of the United States—Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products From China, determining that China may impose trade retaliations against the U.S. with respect to trade in goods in the amount of$645 million annually given the U.S. failure to comply with a WTO ruling in force. China now urges the U.S. to take immediate action to right its wrongs in trade remedy investigations targeting China.     

A FOUNDATION FOR TRUST

<正>Chinese and U.S.presidents’meetings in Florida chart future bilateral ties China and the United States are two major countries with global influence,and the importance of their relationship is self-evident.After Donald Trump was sworn in as American president,the United States’relationship with China became a subject of speculation.With Trump scrapping a number     

New Approach

The United States is attempting a new method to tackle its widening trade imbalance with China. This is what Carlos Gutierrez’s latest China visit, on November 13-17, has signaled. This time round the U.S. secretary of commerce focused on “expansion of U.S. export opportunities,” instead of pressing Beijing to concede on issues such as textile trade, intellectual property and renminbi’s revaluation that dominated his previous three trips. The change in tactical direction coincides wit…     

MARKET WATCH

TO THE POINT: In the first quarter, both the Chinese property and stock markets enjoyed rapid growth. Since the beginning of the year, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has jumped more than 20 percent. The Bank of Communications, China's fifth largest bank, will soon be listed on the Shanghai A-share market, giving it the ability to throw its hat into the bullish ring. Housing prices have also increased substantially despite harsh regulative measures and the property market is seeing rapid foreign and domestic investment growth, with money from abroad pouring in the fastest. China Life, which returned to the Shanghai A-share market last year, left its competitors far behind in 2006, seeing its net profit more than doubled from the year before. U.S. software guru Microsoft is forming a partnership with China's computer giant Lenovo Group on the construction of a research and development (R&D) facility. It will be Microsoft's first ever R&D center partnership worldwide. In an attempt to narrow the trade gap with the United States, China is seeking the procurement of a variety of imports from the United States worth $12 billion. China's total trade surplus with the United States was $144 billion in 2006.     

IPR Awareness Crucial

Back in April, the United States lodged two complaints with the World Trade Organization against China, one of the charges being that the Chinese leadership had failed to con-tain the spread of rampant piracy and infringements on copy-right and intellectual property rights (IPR). This is one of a series of American criticisms against China in this regard over recent years. While this issue has often been cited as a direct cause for bilateral trade frictions and proof of U.S. companies' loss of com-mercial interests in China, it is also seen by some observers as an American way of mounting greater pressures on China to further open its local market for U.S. IPR products.     

China-U.S. BIT Matters to the Global Economy

正Chinese and U.S.representatives expressed optimism for the future of the China-U.S.Bilateral Investment Treaty(BIT)negotiations during a session at this year’s Boao Forum for Asia annual conference.Against the backdrop of a global economy facing risks of derailment and investment and trade rules becoming increasingly fragmented,it is necessary for China and the United States—the two most important economies in the world—to collaborate as much as possible with each other in order