Sino/US Trade Talks at Impasse

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Both sides will meet next month in Washington for the 13 round of talks since spring 2018 — achieving nothing because of unacceptable US demands.

What's going on has little to do with trade, everything to do with Washington wanting China's rise as an economic super-power undermined.

On Thursday, Beijing's Vice Premier/chief negotiator Liu He spoke with Trump regime Treasury Secretary Steve Munichin and trade representative Robert Lighthizer by phone.

They agreed to more talks in early October at an unspecified date. Hold the cheers. Irreconcilable differences separate both sides, chance for a breakthrough virtually nil.

Beijing won't bend to unacceptable US demands at the expense of its industrial, economic, technological, and military development.

Things will likely remain at impasse unless the Trump regime softens its demands, respecting China's sovereign rights, what's highly unlikely.

Working groups from both sides will maintain communication before their negotiating teams meet for more talks.

Xinhua saying both sides agreed to "jointly take concrete actions to create favorable conditions for further consultations in October" is meaningless boilerplate.

Trump regime-launched trade war rages, likely to intensify by December or sooner, harming both countries and the global economy, likely to continue for some time ahead — perhaps leaving major differences unresolved as long as Trump remains in office.

Talks next month and more if scheduled are unlikely to achieve what earlier rounds failed to resolve, "meaningful progress" unattainable because of hardline tactics by Trump regime negotiators.

Various Western economists downgraded 2020 Chinese growth to below Beijing's 6 - 6.5% target.

By next year or sooner, the US may be in recession, its economic numbers weakening.

Chinese investments in the US have "fallen off a cliff," according to National Committee on US-China Relations president Stephen Orlins, escalating trade war taking its toll.

In August, the US Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index contracted for the first time since 2016. Other US economic data are softening.

In earlier and upcoming talks, China insisted on what the Trump regime won't agree to — a fair and equitable trade deal, benefitting both countries, ending the ongoing dispute.

According to Chinese Academy of Social Sciences senior fellow Lu Xiang, "Trump…is getting more unpredictable now that he is into 'garbage time.' "

"We can only try to find sensible clues in his nonsense. We would be better not to play up expectations for the outcome."

China's envoy to Australia Cheng Jingye slammed the US trade war that's "spreading harm around the world."

Piling on tariffs with likely more to come breached "the Osaka (G20 summit) consensus reached by" Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, he explained.

China's Global Times said both "sides face the choice of whether to continue the lose-lose situation or to reach a compromise."

Impasse benefits no one, where things now stand, likely to continue for some time, maybe well into next year, perhaps left unresolved ahead of November 2020 US presidential and congressional elections.

Trump threatened to raise tariffs from 25 to 30% on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports if Beijing won't bend to his demands.

If he follows through and goes further, he'll risk a potentially sharp and protracted US downturn money printing madness will be powerless to fix.

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