Gina Raimondo, U.S. Commerce Secretary, concluded her two-day journey to Beijing with some results: plans to conduct formal talks on export control and touristic activity. During her stay in the Chinese capital, Raimondo met with Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping. According to the Chinese-language description of Raimondo's dialogue with He, "China and the U.S. agreed to carry on engaging in communication and to support practical cooperation between corporations from both nations."
Gina Raimondo, U.S. Commerce Secretary, left Beijing with several objectives accomplished: plans for formal negotiations around export controls and tourism. She pointed out to journalists that "it is more than just deciding to keep talking. We have a particular channel to address commercial matters." During her two-day visit, Raimondo met with Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping. What they agreed to do, according to public announcements, is listed below: (1) setting up a working group for commercial matters between the two commerce departments, meeting twice per year at the vice minister level and once at the minister level (with the first meeting planned in early 2024 by the U.S.); (2) launching an export control enforcement information exchange, kicking-off with a meeting at the assistant secretary level at the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing on Tuesday; (3) arranging the 14th China-U.S. Tourism Leadership Forum in China in the first half of 2024; and (4) bringing together experts from both sides for technical talks on protecting trade secrets during administrative licensing proceedings. It will be supplemented by informal talks as often as needed between Wang and Raimondo. U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns commented to reporters that the visit was very important "since we had no active senior commercial dialogue." He noted that in 15 months as ambassador, he had not encountered any U.S. senior-level discussions with Chinese authorities.
Burns pointed out that there was no method of effectively delivering difficult messages, or of listening and understanding the reasoning behind choices, in a challenging diplomatic relationship. This is what Raimondo's trip is all about. In her meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He, who is responsible for trade and economic affairs between China and the U.S., it was indicated that both countries would persist in communicating and backing practical cooperation between businesses from both countries.
The brief recap of the meeting noted that the Chinese representatives had expressed worries about the U.S. tariffs, export regulations on Chinese exports, investment restrictions, and other actions. Raimondo replied that they would not negotiate over matters of national security. She "said no" to their requests to lessen the export controls and "repeal" the executive order on managing outbound investments. Recently, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order targeting investments in Chinese organizations involving semiconductor technology, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence for national security reasons. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is the one mostly responsible for arranging the particulars.
The Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced new export restrictions in the autumn of 2022 that hindered Chinese companies from getting certain sophisticated semiconductors from American vendors. In response, China's Ministry of Commerce declared its own export controls this summer to restrict the exportation of gallium and germanium, two metals used in the fabrication of semiconductors, to other countries. The proposed application is still under public scrutiny.
Raimondo highlighted that export controls apply to only 1% of U.S.-China trade. She noted that this relationship is detrimental and mentioned her conversations with over 100 businesses that showed that investing in China is more difficult, accompanied by uncertainty from new regulations. China's efforts to increase investment inflows this year and initiatives to promote such investment flows provide ways to make progress, according to Raimondo. Her Shanghai schedule includes a meeting with the local party secretary and a visit to the Shanghai Disney, which reported profits during the latest quarter. CNBC's Eunice Yoon was part of the report.
Comments