Trump Says US-China Trade Unfair Several Times in Beijing, Adds He Doesn't Blame China
Speaking alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump during at least three different occasions in Beijing on Nov. 9 suggested the U.S. has an unfair trade relationship with China and pledged to make it more reciprocal. “Both the United States and China will have a more prosperous future if we can achieve a level economic playing field. Right now, unfortunately, it is a very one-sided and unfair one. But I don't blame China,” Trump said during a business event with Xi, drawing applause from the crowd, according to a White House transcript of the speech. “After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.” Before an expanded bilateral meeting with Xi, Trump said he has “great respect” for China getting ahead of the U.S. on trade, “because you’re representing China,” but added that it’s “too bad” past U.S. administrations “allowed it to get so far out of kilter.”
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Trump and Xi discussed joint steps to take to address China’s market access restrictions and technology transfer requirements, which should help address the U.S.’s “problem of the massive trade distortion” with China, Trump said in a joint press statement with Xi. “The United States is committed to protecting the intellectual property of our companies and providing a level playing field for our workers,” Trump said.
According to a translation, Xi during the press event said it’s a necessity to “formulate and launch” an economic cooperation plan to have a “continued in-depth discussion” covering the “trade imbalance, export, investment environment, market openness, and other issues.” The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Aug. 18 initiated an investigation into China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, to determine whether acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation are “unreasonable or discriminatory” and “burden or restrict” U.S. commerce (see 1708210024). Section 301 gives the president broad authority, including import duties, to retaliate against restrictions found to “burden or restrict” U.S. commerce.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during bilateral discussions in Beijing went over the year-by-year history of U.S.-China “trade imbalances” since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and noted that all 15 of the U.S.’s highest yearly trade deficits since then were with China, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a press briefing Nov. 9. Tillerson said the issue “has just grown over time,” and “just keeps going up from year to year to year,” adding that Trump’s words about U.S.-China trade indicate a sentiment that the dynamics of the bilateral trade relationship aren’t sustainable, and that the words spoke to a lack of surprise that China would look out for and seize its economic interests if possible. The U.S. and China “have to work through this together,” Tillerson said. “But I think his characterization of not blaming a large developing country from doing what they can do, you know, I feel the same way about a number of actions that countries take. If the door is open, you're going to walk through it.”
While China has put “long hours and effort” into trade discussions with the U.S., achievements thus far “are pretty small” as the U.S. keeps running a $300 billion to $500 billion trade deficit with the country, Tillerson said. “I mean, they're not small if you're a company, maybe, that has seen some relief,” he said. “But in terms of really getting at some of the fundamental elements behind why this imbalance exists, there's still a lot more work to do. And that was made very clear by both the Trade Representative and … Commerce Secretary [Wilbur Ross]. And the Chinese acknowledge much more has to be done.”
Trump also thanked Xi for recent efforts to restrict Chinese trade and all banking ties with North Korea. “But time is quickly running out,” Trump said. “We must act fast, and hopefully China will act faster and more effectively on this problem than anyone.” There is "certainly" still "some trade taking place" between the two nations, a senior administration official said in a Nov. 8 press gaggle aboard Air Force One. "China is doing much more than it's ever done in the past, but it's not the time for complacency or for allowing people to slip through loopholes and for a lot of that residual activity to continue," the official said.