{"id":1250,"date":"2025-05-03T06:18:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T06:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/u-s-and-china-dig-in-on-trade-war-with-no-plans-for-formal-talks\/"},"modified":"2025-05-03T06:18:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T06:18:31","slug":"u-s-and-china-dig-in-on-trade-war-with-no-plans-for-formal-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/u-s-and-china-dig-in-on-trade-war-with-no-plans-for-formal-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. and China Dig In on Trade War, With No Plans for Formal Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As trade tensions flared between the world\u2019s largest economies, communication between the United States and China has been so shaky that the two superpowers cannot even agree on whether they are talking at all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At a White House economic briefing this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demurred multiple times when pressed about President Trump\u2019s recent claim that President Xi Jinping of China had called him. Although top economic officials might usually be aware of such high-level talks, Mr. Bessent insisted that he was not logging the president\u2019s calls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI have a lot of jobs around the White House; running the switchboard isn\u2019t one of them,\u201d Mr. Bessent joked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the apparent silence between the United States and China is a serious matter for the global economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Markets are fixated on the mystery of whether back-channel discussions are taking place. Although the two countries have not severed all ties, it does seem that they have gone dark when it comes to conversations about tariffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cChina and the U.S. have not held consultations or negotiations on the issue of tariffs,\u201d Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China\u2019s foreign ministry, said at a news conference last Friday. \u201cThe United States should not confuse the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">However, China\u2019s Commerce Ministry said this Friday that it was now considering holding talks with the Trump administration after repeated attempts by senior U.S. officials to start negotiations. White House and Treasury Department officials did not respond to requests for comment about whether such outreach had occurred.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The standoff over when and whether Washington and Beijing will hold economic talks comes as the Trump administration is scrambling to reach trade deals with dozens of countries that could soon face high tariffs. On April 2, Mr. Trump imposed what he calls \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs on countries that he believes have unfair trade and other economic barriers. Those levies, which sent global financial markets plunging, were paused for 90 days to give countries time to reach agreements with the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">China, which reached a largely unfulfilled trade pact with Mr. Trump during his first term, has indicated that it has little interest in talking about a new agreement until the United States rolls back what it views as a barrage of aggressive and unfair trade measures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump increased tariffs on Chinese imports to a minimum of 145 percent last month, in a bid to force China into trade negotiations. Chinese officials responded by issuing their own tariffs on American products and clamping down on exports to the United States of minerals and magnets that are necessary for many industries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The economic toll of the tit for tat is starting to become clear. The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its growth outlook for both countries and the world, warning that the tariffs had made a downturn more likely. Government data released this week showed Chinese factory activity slowing in April and first-quarter growth in the United States weakening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday at the White House, Mr. Trump acknowledged that children in the United States may wind up with fewer dolls that cost more. But he insisted that he would continue to push for a \u201cfair deal\u201d with China, which he described as the \u201cleading candidate for the chief ripper-offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Trump administration is focused on trade deals with about 18 of America\u2019s most important trading partners that are subject to the reciprocal tariffs. Mr. Bessent indicated that talks with China would operate on a separate track from the other negotiations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Treasury secretary is expected to take the lead on the China negotiations while Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, oversees most of the other talks. However, Mr. Trump has not formally appointed or authorized a U.S. official to negotiate on his behalf with China, leaving Chinese officials to believe that the Trump administration is not ready or serious about trade talks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bessent, who had an introductory call with his Chinese counterpart in February, said that he held informal talks with Chinese officials over issues such as financial stability during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank last week. He said that they spoke about more \u201ctraditional things\u201d but did not say that trade was discussed. The Treasury Department did not issue a summary of any meetings with Chinese officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In an interview with Fox News this week, Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, said that he met virtually for over an hour with his Chinese counterpart before April 2 but that there had been no talks since Mr. Trump announced his \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump has suggested that Mr. Xi should call him to begin the talks personally, noting their strong personal relationship. But that is not how China typically handles important economic matters. The United States and China traditionally work out their economic differences through a structured dialogue with formal meetings and working groups led by a top economic official from each country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis very personalistic approach by President Trump, who wants to negotiate directly with President Xi, doesn\u2019t match with the Chinese system at all,\u201d said Craig Allen, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute\u2019s Center for China Analysis. \u201cIn the Chinese system, these things are carefully negotiated in advance, they go up multiple channels and it is highly controlled and scripted, and when it gets to the leader stage it is highly choreographed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Allen, who until recently was the president of the U.S.-China Business Council, suggested that China was most likely mindful of the acrimonious meeting that Mr. Trump had with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in February and that Mr. Xi would be wary of a situation that could lead to a public confrontation with Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During the Biden administration, Treasury Department officials worked with China to create economic and financial working groups of midlevel staff members that were intended to prevent tensions over tariffs and export controls from spiraling out of control. Those lines of communication do not appear to be in use in the Trump administration, which tends to view them as a waste of time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat is exactly the kind of thing that these groups can help do \u2014 help make sure that the policy you deploy is well tailored to achieve the objective and communicates to the other side what you\u2019re trying to achieve before it\u2019s too late and you instead have to react to potentially unintended consequences or a message that was not intended to be transmitted,\u201d said Brent Neiman, a University of Chicago professor who was the Treasury\u2019s deputy under secretary for international finance during the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During Mr. Trump\u2019s first term, the president initially assigned the Treasury secretary at the time, Steven T. Mnuchin, to lead trade delegations to China. He later appointed Robert E. Lighthizer, his trade representative, who was viewed as more hawkish, to oversee the talks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Veterans of that trade war believe the current deadlock could be more protracted because the tariffs are higher and both sides believe they are winning. If U.S. growth continues to slow while prices start to rise, it could add to the urgency for Mr. Trump to get real talks with China going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI think at some point we have to give them a graceful off ramp,\u201d said Wilbur Ross, who served as Mr. Trump\u2019s commerce secretary during his first term. \u201cWhether that is somebody from our side calling them first or whether it\u2019s simply appointing who will be our main representative \u2014 it may be at some point we need to make a symbolic gesture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/thehundredyearmarathon.com\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Pillsbury<\/a>, a top China adviser to Mr. Trump during his first term, said Beijing was most likely waiting to see what the deals that the Trump administration reaches with other nations such as India and Japan look like before engaging directly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey don\u2019t want to start the formal talks because they want to know the bottom line from others first,\u201d said Mr. Pillsbury, who speaks to U.S. and Chinese officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He noted that the trade fight has become a major point of national pride for China and that it believes that Mr. Trump\u2019s demands \u2014 which Beijing does not fully grasp \u2014 will soften as American markets gyrate and midterm elections in the United States draw closer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDelay is very much in their interest, and a speedy deal is very much in Trump\u2019s interest,\u201d Mr. Pillsbury said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As trade tensions flared between the world\u2019s largest economies, communication between the United States and China has been so shaky that the two superpowers cannot even agree on whether they are talking at all. At a White House economic briefing this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demurred multiple times when pressed about President Trump\u2019s recent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[203,927,928,296,804,246,581,605],"class_list":["post-1250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-china","tag-dig","tag-formal","tag-plans","tag-talks","tag-trade","tag-u-s","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuracarelife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}