Trade war, day 124: Xi’s ‘firefighter’ at work
Politics & Current Affairs
At the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday, Chinese Vice President Wáng Qíshān 王岐山 restated Beijing’s desire for trade talks with the U.S.
- “The Chinese side is ready to have discussions with the U.S. on issues of mutual concern to push for a proposal acceptable to both sides to resolve their economic and trade issues,” Wang said, in a keynote that echoed sentiments expressed by President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 at the China International Import Fair in Shanghai a day earlier.
- Some discussion between China and the U.S. is set for Friday with the resumption of a delayed high-level security dialogue in Washington between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Chinese Politburo member Yáng Jiéchí 杨洁篪, and Defense Minister Wèi Fènghé 魏凤和.
- Back in China, there is turbulence in the air at the biennial Airshow China in Zhuhai, where aircraft manufacturers both large and small are airing grievances over the ongoing trade dispute. China has levied a 5 percent import duty on small and medium aircraft while the larger players are so far unaffected. The event as a whole has a more subdued tone this year, reports the South China Morning Post, citing military sources who say that “the trade war and a lack of funding in the aftermath of the nationwide anti-corruption campaign driven by President Xi Jinping’s military overhaul forced organizers to try to lower costs this year.”
Other trade-war-related news:
- Trade diplomacy
The case for RCEP as Asia’s next trade agreement / East Asia Forum
“Six years in the making, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is slated to become an ASEAN-centric, comprehensive free trade area.”
Trump’s trade war is making Russia and China comrades again / Bloomberg (porous paywall)
- By the numbers
China’s export machine to keep humming ahead of stiffer U.S. tariffs: Reuters poll / Reuters
China’s exports are expected to have expanded at a healthy clip in October as businesses frontloaded orders before higher U.S. tariffs set in at the turn of the year, a Reuters poll showed.”
American businesses paid 50% more in tariffs in September due to Trump’s trade war, industry coalition says / CNBC - Trade secrets
Chinese memory chipmaker Fujian Jinhua denies stealing trade secrets / TechNode - Other U.S.-China stuff
China grants Trump family 18 trademarks in 2 months / AP
“Critics have been especially concerned that China, where the courts and bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party, could try to use the Trump family’s valuable intellectual property for political leverage.”
China greenlights large batch of Ivanka Trump trademark applications / Washington Post
“For President Trump’s daughter, who is also a White House senior adviser, the approval was the crucial step toward letting her market a bevy of goods in China under her name, from cosmetics and sunglasses to semiconductors and voting machines.”
Foxconn considers bringing Chinese workers to Wisconsin as US labor market tightens / WSJ (paywall)
Previously in The China Project’s trade war coverage:
