Beijing is ready to resume trade talks with Washington, China’s ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said, as a top US business lobby in China said nearly half its members are seeing non-tariff barrier retaliation in China due to the trade war.
No further trade talks between top Chinese and US negotiators have been scheduled since the last round ended in a stalemate on May 10, the same day US President Donald Trump sharply increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and took steps to levy duties on all remaining Chinese imports.
Acrimony has intensified since Washington last week blacklisted Chinese telecom equipment company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a potentially devastating blow for the company that has rattled technology supply chains and investors.
Another big Chinese tech firm, video surveillance equipment maker Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd, could also face limits on its ability to buy US technology, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter, sending the firm’s Shenzhen-listed shares 10 per cent lower at the opening on Wednesday.
Negotiations between the United States and China have soured dramatically since early May, when Chinese officials sought major changes to the text of a proposed deal that the Trump administration says had been largely agreed.
But speaking to Fox News Channel, Chinese Ambassador to Washington Cui Tiankai said Beijing was still open for talks.
“China remains ready to continue our talks with our American colleagues to reach a conclusion. Our door is still open,” Cui said on Tuesday.
He blamed the US side for frequently “changing its mind” on tentative deals to end US-China trade disputes.
Cui turned the tables and said it was US negotiators that had abruptly backed away from some previous deals that had been tentatively agreed over the past year.