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Kristin Huang

During his meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urged China to increase market access for American firms.
Trade has long been a contentious issue between the world’s two largest economies – especially in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost opportunities for American workers and firms.
To resolve their difficulties, the two governments negotiated a “100-day plan” in April, which included measures such as the resumption of American beef sales to China.
However, there are major trade conflicts that still remain to be resolved and these are likely to feature prominently on the agenda when Trump visits Beijing in November.
US hopes Trump’s visit to China yields ‘good deliverables’
Trade deficit
The US trade deficit with China was US$347 billion last year – almost 1.87 per cent of total US GDP, according to the World Bank.
The trade deficit exists because US exports to China were only US$116 billion compared with imports of US$463.
The US has blamed the gap on China exporting cheaper goods in large quantities, benefiting from lower wages and exchange rate manipulation that helps keep down the cost of its products (see below).
Market access
The US has complained that China has restricted foreign companies’ access in sectors such as energy, telecommunications and cars.
Chinese rules require foreign firms that want to enter these sectors to form joint ventures with local partners – and this often carries an additional benefit for the Chinese firms in the form of technology being transferred to them.
Trump’s China visit will help avoid ‘trade war, currency war or whatever war’ Chinese ambassador says
Intellectual property
Beijing often insists on taking a close look at technology that foreign companies want to sell in China.
This not only makes market entry more expensive for US companies but has fuelled accusations of industrial espionage.
“Chinese government authorities jeopardise the value of trade secrets by demanding the unnecessary disclosure of confidential information for product approvals,” according to a report released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China in April.
In August Trump authorised an inquiry into accusations China was stealing US intellectual property, the first direct measure taken by his administration.
According to a New York Times report that month, intellectual-property theft costs America up to US$600 billion a year, the greatest transfer of wealth in history and China accounts for most of that loss.

Currency exchange rates
China’s currency policies have long been a major irritant to the Americans, who have complained that Beijing is deliberately using exchange rates to make Chinese goods cheaper.
China was last formally designated as a currency manipulator between 1992 and 1994, under the administrations of George HW Bush and Bill Clinton.
Before his election Trump promised to do so again, and also threatened retaliatory measures such as tariffs, though he did not follow through on this after coming to office.
Calls for a freer yuan from inner circle of China’s central bank
Government subsidies
This problem is often raised during US government anti-dumping investigations into Chinese products, which are allegedly subsidised by the government, making them unfairly cheap on the US markets.
The Trump administration said earlier this month that it would initiate a new anti-dumping and countervailing duty probe to determine whether stainless steel flanges from China are being dumped in the US.


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Five trade issues the US and China need to tackle before Trump goes to Beijing

America has frequently accused Beijing of benefitting from exchange rate manipulation. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Beef steaks are placed for sale at a Sam's Club store of Wal-Mart in Beijing, China June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

epa06225762 US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (L) meets Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) for talks at the Zhongnanhai state guesthouse in Beijing, China, 25 September 2017. Others are not identified. EPA-EFE/THOMAS PETER / POOL

Trump’s China visit will help avoid ‘trade war, currency war or whatever war’ Chinese ambassador says

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai speaks in a discussion titled: 'China's Belt Road Initiative and the Changing Landscape of Global Commerce' during the inaugural Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York. Photo: EPA

(170919) -- WASHINGTON D.C., Sept. 19, 2017 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer delivers remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C., the United States, on Sept. 18, 2017. Robert Lighthizer said here on Monday that reducing trade deficits is one of the Trump administration's trade policy priorities.  (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) (dtf)

epa06215812 (L-R) Moderator and Editor-in-Chief of the South China Morning Post Tammy Tam, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, Ant Financial Executive Chairman Lucy Peng, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Executive Office and Legal representative of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges Zhang Xiaoqiang speak in a discussion titled: 'China's Belt Road Initiative and the Changing Landscape of Global Commerce' during the inaugural Bloomberg Global Business Forum at the Plaza Hotel in New York, New York, USA, 20 September 2017. The forum will feature more than 50 heads of state and 250 international CEOs as it is held on the sidelines of the ongoing nearby General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly. EPA-EFE/ANDREW GOMBERT

An attendee walks past registration counters at the media center for the Belt and Road Forum For International Cooperation at the National Convention Center in Beijing, China, on Sunday, May 14, 2017. China is setting its sights on U.S. energy as a growing reliance on imports forces it to look beyond traditional suppliers, according to the head of the country's biggest oil and gas company. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a press conference after a summit at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 15, 2017. Xi said his initiative to develop economic links along the ancient Silk Road and beyond will help rebalance globalization. (Pool photo)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

News

China

Diplomacy

A number of concerns – ranging from exchange rates to accusations of intellectual property theft – are likely to feature prominently when Donald Trump visits Beijing later this year


China economy

United States

Donald Trump

China 101