Trade moves show shared willingness to restart talks

SOME CHINESE IMPORTERS are applying to the government to lift tariffs on imports of agricultural products from the United States, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. On its WeChat account Taoran Note, Economic Daily comments:

The unnamed importers, which are acting according to the needs of the domestic market, were talking to US suppliers about potential pricing and have applied to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, which has oversight over the tariffs, to lift the levies, Xinhua reported.

Earlier this month, the US was reported to have removed 110 Chinese export items from its own list of tariffs, and the US administration gave the green light to relevant US companies to continue to provide for the needs of their Chinese partners.

Which means the two sides are making joint efforts to deescalate the situation, and are acting on the agreement the two heads of state reached during their meeting on the sidelines of the Osaka G20 Summit in Japan at the end of last month.

Although it is not yet known when the trade negotiations between the two sides will restart, these latest moves suggest both Beijing and Washington are gingerly showing their sincerity and goodwill to try and create an atmosphere of "equality and mutual respect" to resume the talks at an early date.

Nevertheless, shared willingness to restart the trade negotiations does not mean all previous divergences have been resolved. Even if the talks are rebooted, the process might not be any easier or smoother than weeks ago when they suddenly came to a halt.

The trade war began with Washington imposing punitive tariffs on imports from China, so all the additional tariffs must be canceled if it really intends to sign an agreement with Beijing. Those in the decision-making circles in Washington who think that Beijing will finally give in under internal and external pressure are living in a fantasy.

It is predictable the trade frictions will continue after the resumption of the talks. That fights and talks run parallel will become a normal state of the two sides' efforts to try to strike a new equilibrium between their respective interests.