Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Monday that Beijing wanted trade talks with the U.S. and not a trade war, reiterating his country’s willingness to open up markets to American business.
“With regard to trade imbalances, China and the United States should adopt a pragmatic and rational attitude, promote balancing through expansion of trade, and stick to negotiations to resolve differences and friction,” Mr. Li told the conference in Beijing, state radio reported.
His move to tamp down talk of trade war signaled that President Trump’s tough measures targeting China’s unfair trade practices, including tariffs on high-tech exports to the U.S., were having an impact.
Chinese officials first greeted Mr. Trump’s aggressive action with threats of retaliation and dire warnings of a trade war.
But talks quietly got underway between top officials from both country’s about improving U.S. access to Chinese markets, a chief goal of the Trump administration.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the behind-the-scenes negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington and Liu He, China’s newly appointed vice premier, overseeing the economy, in Beijing.
Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Lighthizer in a letter to Mr. Liu asked China to cut a tariff on U.S. autos, buy more U.S.-made semiconductors and give U.S. firms greater access to the Chinese financial sector, according to the report.
China has offered to buy more U.S. semiconductors by diverting some purchases from South Korea and Taiwan, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the negotiations. China imported $2.6 billion of semiconductors from the United States last year.
Chinese officials are also working to finalize rules by May — instead of the end of June — to allow foreign financial groups to take majority stakes in Chinese securities firms, the Financial Times said.
Mr. Trump last week socked China with up to $60 billion in tariffs on high-tech imports, investment restrictions and plans for a formal complaint to the World Trade Organization.
Beijing responded with a list of U.S. goods ranging from steel to pork and valued at $3 billion that it would hit with reciprocal tariffs unless Washington quickly negotiate a settlement.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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