Top Chinese economic official visits DC to talk trade
The man expected to head China’s central bank and clinch the top economic post next week, Liu He, will hold talks in Washington DC today in a bid to smooth over the testy economic ties between the world’s two largest economies.
The US has long criticised China for dumping excess steel into the US at rock bottom prices, heavily subsidising Chinese companies and devaluing the Renminbi to make Chinese products cheaper in the US market and US products dearer in China. President Trump has cited these reasons to explain America’s $375 billion trade deficit with the Middle Kingdom. In response, he has threatened to significantly increase tariffs on steel imports using a Cold War-era law citing national security.
These tariffs would only have a minor impact on Beijing because Chinese steel — heavily restricted already — only accounted for 2% of US imports in 2015. Mr Liu will likely use today’s talks to open up lines of communication between Beijing and Trump administration officials in an attempt to steer emphasis back to the ongoing bilateral trade talks.
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