to propose any new initiatives or offer fresh
concessions when he meets Trump.
As a condition of any settlement, Beijing has
demanded that Trump lift all the punitive tariffs
he’s imposed on Chinese products. That might
be next to impossible. Even if a significant
agreement can be reached, U.S. negotiators
want to keep in place at least some of their
import taxes to ensure that Beijing fulfills
whatever steps it agrees to.
“Any deal would need the U.S. to roll back its
tariffs, which doesn’t seem to be on the table,”
said Mark Williams of Capital Economics.
Beijing denies the allegations that it steals U.S.
companies’ intellectual property and forces
them to hand over proprietary technology. And
Chinese officials have vowed to resist anything
that strikes them as a one-sided agreement.
Beijing has complained that Trump’s trade
war is designed mainly to suppress a rising
global competitor so the U.S. can maintain its
technological dominance.
“Both sides must make compromises and
concessions, not just one party,” one of
China’s negotiators, Wang Shouwen, a deputy
commerce minister, said at a news conference
this week.
Beijing might prove reluctant to take any
major steps — such as reducing government
subsidies to Chinese companies — that could
threaten its ambition to turn its companies into
world leaders in such advanced technologies as
artificial intelligence and autonomous cars.
“Some of those things are the hardest for China
to do,” said Robert Holleyman, a partner in the
trade practice at the law firm Crowell & Moring.
“The U.S. knew that going into this.”
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