Latest news with #ChinaUSrelations
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
China wants to return US trade ties to a state of healthy development
BEIJING, July 18 (Reuters) - China wants to bring commercial ties with the United States back to a state of healthy and sustainable development, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said on Friday, calling on the U.S. to behave in a way that befits its major country status. China's trade has strong resilience and momentum, and the country will expand imports as well as exports in its next five-year plan, Wang said at a press conference. The country's policy support for exports has "bucked the trend" amid a complex external environment, Wang said. He characterised the ups and downs in China-U.S. trade relations as having taught both sides that they need each other. "A forced decoupling and severing of supply chains is impossible, and some trade between the two sides is difficult to replace, at least in the short term," he said. "Having weathered many storms, the two sides remain important economic and trade partners to each other," Wang said, adding that the two countries can manage tensions through "equal dialogue and consultations". U.S. President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese products to over 100% earlier this year, before walking back much of the hefty duties in a trade truce with Beijing reached in May. China has until August 12 to reach a deal with Washington to avoid Trump's reinstating additional import curbs imposed during tit-for-tat tariff exchanges in April and May. The current overall tariff level imposed by the U.S. on China is at a "still high" 53.6%, Wang told the press conference. "There are no winners in a trade war. China does not want a trade war, but it is not afraid of one," he reiterated. "Major countries should act like major countries. They must shoulder their responsibilities," he said, adding that China would not change its stance in protecting its national interests. ($1 = 7.1811 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Malay Mail
12-07-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
China urges US to adopt ‘rational and pragmatic' stance, calls for constructive ties in KL meeting
KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has called on the United States (US) to adopt an objective, rational and pragmatic stance towards China, urging both sides to chart a constructive path for their relationship in the new era. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang made the remarks during a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, held on the sidelines of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and related meetings yesterday. Both sides exchanged views on China-US relations and key shared concerns. Wang firmly outlined Beijing's core principles on advancing China-US relations, urging both sides to translate top-level consensus into concrete policies and actions. 'We hope the US adopts an objective, rational, and pragmatic approach toward China, shaping its China policy around peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit, and engaging with China on the principles of equality and respect, to jointly chart a constructive path for China-US relations in the new era,' it said. The statement noted that both sides agreed the meeting was positive, pragmatic, and constructive, and concurred to strengthen diplomatic channels and communication at all levels and sectors. It added that the meeting aimed to leverage diplomatic efforts in promoting bilateral relations, manage differences, and explore opportunities for expanded cooperation. Meanwhile, at the 15th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Wang outlined three key proposals, urging East Asian countries to return to dialogue, development, and openness. 'China backs this year's adoption of the summit's 20th anniversary declaration, which will set the direction for its future development,' he said. He also urged all parties to expand cooperation and openness amid the growing risk of unilateralism and protectionism. 'East Asia's success comes from open regionalism. We back ASEAN-led cooperation, defend multilateral trade, build a high-level regional free trade network, and promote regional integration,' he said, as quoted in the statement. — Bernama
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How The U.S. Can Reduce Dependence On China's Rare Earth Minerals
American leaders in Washington cannot continue to rely on Beijing for materials while the Chinese are emerging as a military rival. The only way out of a potentially dangerous situation, from an American perspective, is to drastically reduce dependency on China, especially when it comes to the critical minerals sector. China's commerce ministry issued a statement on July 4 saying that Beijing and Washington have accelerated efforts toward the agreement reached during the June 9-10 trade talks in London, all while warning the Trump administration against undermining their "hard-won" consensus. American and Chinese officials agreed upon a framework to implement the Geneva agreement in early May, expediting rare earth shipments to the United States. In a reference to its own rare earth export curbs, the Chinese commerce ministry said that the Chinese government "is currently reviewing and approving eligible export license applications for controlled items." Confirming reports that the United States resumed exports of chip design software, ethane and jet engines, the statement added that the White House had also undertaken reciprocal steps "to lift a series of restrictive measures against China and has informed China about the relevant situation.' This diplomacy underscores how China has been able to effectively counter U.S. restrictions on semiconductor sales and technology transfers. The Trump administration's negotiations with the government of President Xi Jinping are a necessary short-term step to avoid disruptions to the American economy and its military superiority. But it must be treated as an extremely temporary measure because the deal struck last month perpetuates U.S. dependence on China for critical minerals. Over the past couple of years there has been a massive surge in high-frequency Chinese air and naval exercises, especially incursions into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone. Such incursions surged with nearly 450 flights recorded in mid‑2024 and continuing activity into the current year includes live-fire drills, amphibious landings, rocket force launches, and aircraft carrier operations encircling the island nation. Last summer, the Chinese navy held wargames with their Russian counterparts in the waters off the Aleutian Islands. Then this June, for the first time, both of China's two carrier strike groups operated together entering the second-island chain near Japan. Earlier this year, in February, a People's Liberation Army task group carried out live-fire navy drills in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Sea of Tasman. U.S.-Chinese diplomacy can help manage tensions, but it is extremely unlikely that Beijing will give up its strategic military plans. While the U.S. remains a superior military force, the United States remains vulnerable due to economic dependence on Chinese rare earth mineral supply chains. The American strategy has been to place restrictions on semiconductor exports as part of a broader effort to curb access to advanced technologies, along with discouraging investments. More recently, tariffs have become yet another element of trade restrictions. Washington has also been actively promoting India as a strategic alternative to China's global-scale manufacturing prowess with the aim of diversifying supply chains, de-risking economic dependence, and countering Beijing's industrial dominance. Considering that Beijing has had a major head start in the strategic field of rare earth minerals, the United States will have to work hard on multiple fronts to alter the current reality that the People's Republic controls 60–90% of global refining and processing capacity for critical minerals and raw ores mined elsewhere (e.g., Australia), which also have to be sent to China for processing. Current efforts are scattered across several different arenas: extraction and refining, public investment and market incentivization, supply chains involving allied and partner nations, technological innovation, downstream industrial strategy, trade policy and strategic reserve, and transparency and market reforms. The Trump administration will need to weave these various lines of efforts into a grand strategy on critical minerals security. One key strategic ally in this endeavor is Kazakhstan, which can become a reliable source of 17 of the 30 minerals critical for the U.S. economy. Astana can also serve as a geopolitical partner in the forging of non-Chinese supply chains.. Most importantly, Kazakhstan, while maintaining relations with its neighbors Russia and China, has a demonstrated desire to work with the United States and its western allies. The Eurasian landmass is thus a major battleground in great power competition, particularly between the United States and China. Beijing's objective is to maintain close economic relations with Washington while at the same time it grows its military power to undermine the U.S. global position. America cannot accept this situation. And the key to dealing with it entails making critical minerals security a top national priority.
The Independent
04-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
China warns Trump's tariff war will have ‘no winners' as deadline looms
Han Zheng warned, in an apparent jab at Donald Trump, that tariff and trade wars would have no winners even as Beijing and Washington stepped up efforts to resolve their disputes. Addressing the World Peace Forum in Beijing, Mr Han said the multilateral trade system was key to avoiding disruptions in global supply chains. He made the remarks just days ahead of the 9 July deadline for countries on Mr Trump's tariffs list to negotiate trade deals with the US. The Chinese commerce ministry said this week that it hoped the US would continue to meet it halfway and maintain the stability of bilateral trade and economic relations, which nosedived earlier this year when Mr Trump imposed punishing import levies on the country. 'We hope the US side will deeply understand the mutually beneficial and win-win nature of China -US economic and trade relations," the ministry said. It called on Washington to preserve the positive momentum on talks to resolve disputes while warning third countries against "making a deal at the expense of China 's interests' with the US. China had retaliated against the Trump levies by suspending exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets. During a round of trade talks in Geneva in May, Beijing committed to removing the restrictions imposed since 2 April but the US said the critical materials were not moving as fast as agreed. A breakthrough came during talks in London the following month when the two sides agreed a framework to implement the Geneva agreement. 'China is currently reviewing and approving eligible export licence applications for controlled items," the commerce ministry said, referring to the rare earth export curbs. In response, the US took actions "to lift a series of restrictive measures against China' and 'informed Beijing about the relevant situation", the ministry said, confirming reports that Washington had resumed exports of chip design software, ethane and jet engines to the Asian giant. "Teams on both sides are stepping up efforts to implement relevant outcomes of the London framework," the ministry said, calling the framework "hard-won". US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg last month that China was 'going to deliver rare earths to us" and, once they did, the US would 'take down our countermeasures". Thanks to this trade truce, China is not at risk of being hit with higher levies when the 90-day pause on the implementation of Mr Trump's tariffs ends next week. But Mr Trump's trade deals with the UK and Vietnam suggest China may remain an indirect target, according to China Economics head Julian Evans-Pritchard. "It seems that Trump is keen to crack down on the rerouting of Chinese exports via third countries, which has diminished the effectiveness of US tariffs," Mr Evans-Pritchard told Reuters.
South China Morning Post
15-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trump and Xi will act tough but won't allow ‘free fall' in US-China ties: Ryan Hass
Ryan Hass is director of the John L. Thornton China Centre and the Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is also a senior fellow at the think tank's Centre for Asia Policy Studies. He is a former diplomat with a focus on China and served as a key member of the National Security Council during the administration of former US president Barack Obama. He served as a foreign service officer in the US embassies in Beijing, Seoul and Ulaanbaatar, and in the State Department offices of Taiwan coordination and Korean affairs. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here What is the likely scenario for after the current trade truce, and what will be the outlook for China–US relations during Trump's second term? I would venture to guess that not even [US President Donald] Trump can confidently predict how the 90-day truce will end. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. First, President Trump is not following any type of intricate master strategy with detailed steps leading to an ultimate conclusion. He's experimenting and adapting to changing circumstances until he arrives at an outcome that he believes he can characterise as a win. Second, the trade war will be influenced by a lot of factors completely apart from and outside of the US-China relationship. For example, will the United States economy be in recession later this year? Will China's economy be experiencing significant downward pressure?
