Trade conflict
Relaxation in the customs dispute? China and the USA optimistic
Beijing calls the talks with the USA constructively in Geneva. But many details are not yet known. What’s next?
According to the Chinese delegation, China and the USA achieved a “series of important matches” during their customs talks. In addition, the two sides would have agreed to set up a mechanism for advice on business and trade, said Vice Prime Minister He Lifeng, according to Chinese state media. Details would be worked out as soon as possible.
China and the USA announced a joint explanation for this Monday. He described the discussions at the weekend in Switzerland as “open and constructive”. The meeting in Geneva was an important step to solve the disagreements through dialogue and laid the basis for deepening the collaboration.
China is ready to “enlarge the cake of cooperation” and to promote the trade relationships with the United States for a new development in order to bring more stability to the global economy, said He.
USA also speak of agreement
According to US information, the two sides had agreed in the customs dispute – and thus achieved a possible breakthrough in the stuck trade conflict. There were no details from Washington at first. Among other things, US Finance Minister Scott Bessent and US trade officer Jamieson Greer took part in the talks.
The White House published a message that was overwritten with “USA terminating China trade agreements in Geneva”. However, the message did not become more specific. After completing the talks in Geneva, Greer spoke of a “deal”, improperly of “substantial progress”.
Behavioral reactions of the stock exchanges
At the start of trade, the financial markets in Asia reacted positively to the announcements from Geneva. The Hang Seng index in the Chinese special administration region Hong Kong was at the beginning of around 1.4 percent.
The CSI-300 index, which depicts the most important Chinese mainland stocks, only opened about 0.5 percent. The Nikkei index in Japan and the Kospi’s leading index on the stock exchange in South Korea only started the trading day with slight gains.
Ratio extremely tense
The trade between the United States and China has hardly been profitable due to the high tariffs and thus almost came to a standstill. The relationships between the two largest economies in the world have reached another low since the escalation in the trade conflict in April. US President Donald Trump imposed 145 percent tariffs on goods from China. Beijing decided to do against tariffs of 125 percent on US goods.
So far, both countries have tried to give the impression that they have to sit on the longer lever and do not have to take the first step to approach the other side. The talks in Geneva should now initiate a turn. They quickly found in common, which suggests that the differences were not as big as expected, said Greer after the discussions.
Chinese emphasize importance of the WTO
As Chinese state television reported, Vice Prime Minister He, who had traveled to Switzerland to discuss economic and trade issues, also met the general director of the GENF-based world trade organization (WTO), NGOZI OKOKO-IWEALA.
The Chinese spoke to the Nigerian about the past customs negotiations with the United States. All pages should solve disputes about dialogue as part of the WTO, he said. China will continue to participate in the reform of the WTO.
dpa
Source: Stern
