President Trump has renewed a threat to hike tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods
BEIJING — U. S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived in Beijing on Saturday for talks on China’s promise to buy more American goods after Washington revived tensions by renewing its threat of tariff hikes on Chinese high-tech exports. The White House did not announce the trip ahead of time.
The talks focus on adding details to China’s May 19 promise to narrow its politically volatile surplus in trade in goods with the United States, which reached a record $375.2 billion last year.
President Trump threw the status of the talks into doubt this week by renewing a threat to hike tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology.
Private sector analysts say that while Beijing is willing to compromise on its trade surplus, it will resist changes that might threaten plans to transform China into a global technology competitor.
The two governments released no schedule for the talks, but China said earlier that Ross was due to be in Beijing through Monday. On Saturday, the White House issued a statement about Ross’ trip.
«Today, President Donald J. Trump announced the members of an official delegation from the United States to China to discuss rebalancing the bilateral economic relationship between the United States and China,» the White House statement read. «These meetings will take place from June 2 through June 3, and are a continuation of the talks held in Beijing one month ago and in Washington two weeks ago.»
Reporters saw Ross outside his hotel at midday Saturday but he didn’t respond to their questions before he got in a car and was driven away.
