Wilbur Ross 'optimistic' on trade truce

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday he was "optimistic" that the US and China could reach an agreement on a whole series of trade issues "in the not too distant future", prompting speculation that the US may weigh resuming talks with China.

Ross, speaking on the sidelines of the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Maryland, said the US and China have "a couple of sets of issues". First of all — the personal relationship between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, he said.

That relationship, which continues to be "very strong", is "really the foundation of our relationship" both in terms of trade discussions, discussions with Pyongyang, and in terms of many geo-political issues, Ross said at a news conference.

"But there are some issues that divide us," including the set of tariffs China imposes on US exports, some standards China imposes particularly on food items, and intellectual property rights, the technology transfers and cyber security, which Ross said are "essentially the basis" for the US' planned hefty tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.

"Those are the issues we would like to see resolved between China and the United States," Ross said. "We're optimistic that at some point in the not too distant future, we can hopefully reach an agreement on that whole series of issues."

He added that there are also some issues on the Chinese side about their interest in doing things in the US, and those too would be part of the discussion.

On Thursday, China's Ministry of Commerce said that accusing China of stealing intellectual property and forcing technological transfers is a "severe distortion of history and reality".

Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said that in China's reform and opening up, many foreign companies carried out sound technological cooperation for their own interests. "This is typical of market-based contractual acts, and foreign firms have gained bountiful rewards, as is known to all," he said.

He also said the US was "capricious", as the two sides had achieved a positive outcome in the agriculture and energy sectors during talks in both Washington in May and in Beijing in early June, but the US has been "acting unpredictably" with its policymaking and holding "big sticks" for negotiations.

Asked by China Daily to comment on the Chinese ministry's statement, Ross said, "When I was over there a couple weeks ago, we did have very extensive discussions about manufacturing products, about agricultural products and about energy products."

"We did not really have much discussion about the structural issues," he said. "So those would occur at some time in the future."

Some White House officials are trying to restart talks with China to avoid a trade war before US tariffs on Chinese products take effect on July 6, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing three people familiar with the plans.

The staff of the National Economic Council has contacted former US government officials and China experts in recent days to gauge chances for high-level talks in the next two weeks, the sources said on condition of anonymity, according to the report.

The move has set up a battle with others in the administration who favor a harder line, Bloomberg reported.

Many participants of the SelectUSA annual event, especially those from business agencies of the states, expressed their concerns about the escalating trade fight between China and the US, as well as the hopes that the feud could be resolved through talks.

James A. Schellinger, Secretary of Commerce of Indiana, said he is keeping a close eye on the trade tensions between the US and China. Instead of waiting for foreign direct investors to come, Governor Eric Holcomb "has reached out to them", he said.

"We just have to have faith and confidence that the leaderships in America and other countries continue to talk in a reasonable way that works for the world," Schellinger told China Daily on Thursday.

Indiana's total trade with China, including imports and exports, accounts for 3 percent of its gross domestic product, according to US Census Bureau data.

Brett Doney, president and CEO of Great Falls Montana Development Authority, said businesses do not like uncertainty, even one season's lost opportunity can have a negative impact on farmers and ranchers.

"We hope the issue can be solved to increase the trade between the two countries, not reduce," Doney said.

By the end of last year, 46 of 50 US states had received Chinese direct investment in the form of a newly established greenfield project or the acquisition of a company headquartered in that state, according to the Rhodium Group.

But in the first half of this year, acquisitions and greenfield investments from China are projected to see a year-on-year drop of more than 90 percent to the lowest level in seven years, the research firm said on Wednesday.

Zhang Yuan, Cai Chunying and Dong Leshuo contributed to this story.