China’s ambassador to the United States says his country is “ready to make a deal” to end a trade war with the United States…
China’s ambassador to the United States says his country is “ready to make a deal” to end a trade war with the United States — if they could find a trustworthy partner in Washington.
Cui Tiankai accused the United States of shifting positions and passing up opportunities for agreement. The United States has been escalating tariffs on imports from China, and China he responded with taxes on U. S. goods.
Amid rising tension, the veteran Chinese diplomat sat for a wide-ranging interview at NPR headquarters Wednesday. He offered a window into some of the frustrations of the world’s most important international relationship, as a dominant power spars against an increasingly powerful one. The fight pits China’s deeply entrenched leader Xi Jinping against the unpredictable President Trump.
Cui, elegantly dressed and silver-haired, asserted that the trade war could be resolved through “good faith.”
“We are ready to make some compromise,” he said, but in recent negotiations “the U. S. position keeps changing all the time, so we don’t know exactly what the U. S. would want as priorities.”
The Chinese government, he said, is willing to take steps to reduce the U. S. trade deficit with China, which is a central complaint of President Trump. He asserted that China is also willing to commit to “reforms” to China’s economy, where state-supported firms often compete for business with built-in advantages against foreign competitors.
