Fri, Oct 30, 2009 page10

• US, PRC hold key trade talks before Obama visit

  DISPUTE The two sides are looking to smooth over trade tensions on a number of issues ahead of the US president’s visit to Shanghai and Beijing on Nov. 15

  • AFP
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  The US and China yesterday huddled for key talks on trade disputes, clean energy and climate change less than three weeks before a visit by US President Barack Obama.

  US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke (駱家輝), Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack met for a second day with a team led by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (王岐山) in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

  Obama is due to begin his first presidential visit to China on Nov. 15, and two sides are looking to smooth over trade tensions on a number of issues before his high-profile trip to Shanghai and Beijing.

  

  Participants at the 20th US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade take part in a meeting in Hangzhou, China, yesterday.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Locke said it was “critical we make concrete demonstrable progress today to demonstrate to our citizens and to the entire world that China and the United States can work together to achieve results.”

  He told delegates to the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) that disagreements between Washington and Beijing were “bound to arise” but called them a “sign of the maturity” of the bilateral relationship.

  Kirk noted “the candor and the frankness” of early-morning group meetings held before the main plenary session — a sign of possible frictions — and suggested the JCCT framework be expanded to include more regular meetings .

  “It’s important we have a year-long process so we can identify problems ahead of time instead of always being in a position of having to work to resolve challenges,” he said, using diplomatic language suggesting tough talks.

  Obama ignited the first major trade dispute of his presidency last month when he imposed punitive duties on Chinese-made tires.

  Beijing retaliated by lodging a complaint at the WTO and launching an investigation into possible unfair trade practices involving imports of US car products and chicken meat.

  Beijing has charged that Washington’s move violated WTO rules, but Obama has denied that it amounted to protectionism.

  The two sides are also at odds over pirated music and movies.

  Wang urged both sides to “stand firmly against all forms of trade protectionism and work together to promote the recovery of economic growth” in the two countries.

  “Economic interdependence deepens day-by-day, and one cannot do without the other,” he said.

  Locke said “priority market access issues” would be addressed in the fields of agriculture, clean energy, pharmaceuticals and telecoms, along with the protection of intellectual property rights.

  The US trade deficit with China is the widest Washington has with any country, totalling US$143.7 billion in the first eight months of this year, down 15.1 percent from the same period last year, US data showed.

  The two countries, the world’s biggest sources of carbon emissions, also said climate change would be addressed ahead of talks in Copenhagen in December on a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

  The US and China were expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation at the end of the annual talks, which began late on Wednesday.

  Locke said the value of the US-pegged yuan would not be discussed during the talks. The US Treasury said earlier that the Chinese currency was “undervalued,” chiding Beijing for a “lack of flexibility.”
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