No sign of further talks for now
The blog Taoran Notes said that it would be meaningless for US officials to come to China for trade talks. The blog statement was repeated in the People’s Daily the Communist Party outlet and the state-run Xinhua News Agency. The Ministry of Commerce spokesperson added that he had no information about any US officials coming to China for trade talks.
The Taoran blog repeated the three main concerns China has for a deal: tariff removal, achievable purchase plans, and a balanced agreement text. The blog wrote: “If anyone thinks the Chinese side is just bluffing, that will be the most significant misjudgment” since the Korean War, it said.
Next meeting could be next month
The next opportunity for Chinese president Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to meet will be at the Group of 20 meeting next month in Japan. It remains to be seen if any meeting will happen. The meeting of the two in Argentina last year in December managed to put negotiations on track again only to see them fall apart this month.
Signs are talks in the near future unlikely
Zhou Xiaoming, a former diplomat and commerce ministry official noted that talks were unlikely to resume unless the US made concessions: “If the U.S. doesn’t make concessions in key issues, there is little point for China to resume talks. ”
Zhou claimed that in response to US actions that the Chinese took a more hard-line stance and is in no rush for a deal. He said that US stance was extremely repellent to the Chinese and they had no illusions about US sincerity.
Commerce Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng claimed that China’s 3 major concerns had to be addressed before there could be any deal and that the US unilateral escalation of tensions had seriously hurt the talks. However, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that US officials would most likely go to Beijing at some point but then later added that he had no plans as yet to go to China.
Recent US bill will hurt Huawei
A recent article reports a recent bill that will negatively impact Huwaei: “President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday barring US firms from using telecom gear from sources the administration deems national security threats.The decision risks escalating tensions with China as the two nations clash over trade and whether Huawei — the world’s largest provider of telecommunications equipment — poses a spying risk to Western infrastructure networks.”
Some US farmers will be hurt by the trade war
Trump is planning to offer US farmers negatively impacted by tariffs imposed by the Chinese aid to the tune of $15 billion and will buy crops for humanitarian aid abroad. Trump even suggested that China would pay for the aid through even higher tariffs on their goods. As reported in a recent Digital Journal article many farmers still support Trump. However, others have been very critical saying they want their ability to compete on the Chinese market back not a handout. The trade war has driven down prices of some products so much that some farmers will lose a bundle even with the handout, particularly those growing corn and soybeans.