A new battery of Chinese trade “countermeasures” launched against the United States could be a “very positive” step towards stabilising bilateral relations, compelling the Trump administration to take a more grounded approach towards Beijing, a prominent academic has suggested.
The assessment came as the White House dialled down its rhetoric on fresh trade tensions between the two countries on Sunday. Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump would meet soon if the next round of US-China trade negotiations goes well.
“The meeting is still likely to take place,” he said, citing willingness on both sides.
In recent days, tit-for-tat trade clashes between the world’s two largest economies have flared again.
Back from a national holiday, the Chinese government unleashed a barrage of restrictive measures, including widening export controls on rare earth materials and technologies, adding 14 Western entities – mostly based in the US – to its blacklist. Beijing also imposed additional port fees on US-linked vessels and launched an antitrust probe into the American tech giant Qualcomm.
On Friday, Trump threatened to impose another 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods beginning next month. He also said Washington would curb exports “on any and all critical software”.
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