President of the United States Donald Trump appealed to the authorities of the People's Republic of China with a request to immediately begin to remove tariffs for US agricultural products.
“I asked China to immediately cancel all duties on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, and so on),” Trump wrote on Twitter.
According to him, Beijing should take such a step, as negotiations on trade relations between the two countries are moving successfully. In addition, the US leader on March 1 did not raise tariffs on goods from China to 25%.
"This is very important for our beautiful farmers - and for me!" - stressed Trump, completing the appeal to the Chinese authorities about the removal of duties on agricultural products from the United States.
Note that since the beginning of 2019, several rounds of negotiations have been held between the representatives of the United States and China, at which new terms of trade between the two states were discussed at a high level. The last summit at the moment was held in Washington from February 21 to 24. According to its results, both sides declared significant success in resolving trade disputes.
The American leader, in particular, announced the postponement of tariff increases, and also announced that a new mutually beneficial trade deal with China could be concluded soon, and announced other "very big news." The Ministry of Commerce of China added that progress was made "in the transfer of technology, protection of intellectual property, non-tariff barriers, services, agriculture."
Recall that last year the United States stated a trade deficit in relations with China, which amounted to at least $ 375 billion. The White House also accused the Chinese side of stealing American technology and intellectual property.
To remedy the situation, Washington began to apply the practice of imposing duties on goods and services, and this affected not only China.
At first, the American side set tariffs at 25% for steel and 10% for aluminum, in the summer the 25% rate affected imports of goods from China totaling $ 50 billion. In the fall, the United States imposed a 10% duty on goods from China for $ 200 billion. January 1, 2019, this tariff was supposed to grow to 25%, but in December, Donald Trump decided to impose a moratorium on the increase in duties for 90 days.
China, in turn, consistently responded symmetrically - duties of 25% were set for agricultural goods, cars and seafood in the amount of $ 34 billion, a similar tariff also affected the products of the energy sector, chemical industry and medical goods for a total of $ 16 billion. , Beijing imposed duties in the amount of 5% and 10%, which affected the import of products and goods from the US totaling $ 60 billion.
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"The degree of aggressiveness to China is very high"
Trump's pressure on Beijing was not a surprise, said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to him, the head of the White House often continues to attack, even if the opponent begins to meet.
“Not only the anti-Russian consensus was formed in the USA, but also the anti-Chinese consensus. The degree of aggression to the PRC is very high. US policy toward China is more than the notorious leveling of the trade deficit. That is, alignment is only a reason for pressure on China. Because Beijing is challenging Washington. The Chinese economy is growing at a very fast pace, and according to many forecasts, China will be superior to America. This is the American elite, ”- said Blokhin in a conversation with RT.
According to him, Beijing should understand that the decision to make concessions to the United States may be wrong in this situation.
“All agreements reached will have short-term prospects. Both countries have embarked on breaking economic interdependence. China will more reorient its markets from America to Eurasia. And the Americans will transfer financial flows from China to countries that will have to deal with the containment of Beijing, ”the expert believes.
The Washington authorities, unlike China, are interested not only in the success of the negotiations, but also in the desire to present it as their own victory, says expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter.
“At the moment, China agrees to make trade concessions to the United States, and for him it is not a matter of principle. China is ready to increase US imports, and this does not affect China’s trade policy or the prospects for the Chinese economy. However, for the United States this victory is not enough, so they are constantly trying to link the negotiations and the position of China with something else. Therefore, although the negotiations are quite successful, they have not yet been completed. Obviously, the United States is not interested in the talks themselves or their success. They want an absolute victory that can be given out in the media for political, ”the analyst believes.
At the same time, he believes that the White House should abandon the constant increase in demands.
“If the US still raises duties against China, it will mean defeat rather than victory, because Beijing will cope with this, and Trump will not get any result. He knows perfectly well how to come to a dead end, but he never got out of it, ”concluded the RT interlocutor.