US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Saturday that upcoming U.S.-China talks will address a criticism from the highest Biden administration Beijing’s economic model And Trade practices putting American firms and staff at an unfair competitive drawback.
“I think the Chinese are aware of how concerned we are about the impact of their industrial strategy on the United States, about the possibility of flooding our markets with exports that make it harder for American companies to compete,” Yellen said afterwards to reporters the announcement during their trip to China.
“It’s not going to be solved in an afternoon or a month, but I think they’ve heard that this is an important issue for us,” she said.
The two sides may have “intensive exchanges” on more balanced economic growth, in accordance with a US statement issued after two days of prolonged meetings between Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng within the southern city of Guangzhou. They also agreed to start an anti-money laundering exchange. It was not immediately clear when or where the talks would happen.
Yellen, who arrived in Beijing later after starting a five-day visit to considered one of China’s major industrial and export hubs, said the talks would offer a structure to listen to one another’s views and check out to deal with them American concerns about production overcapacity in China.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said the 2 sides agreed to debate a spread of issues, including balanced growth of the United States, China and the worldwide economy, in addition to financial stability, sustainable finance and anti-money laundering cooperation.
Xinhua said China has responded comprehensively to the problem of production capability, however the report didn’t provide details. According to the agency, China also expressed grave concern about American trade and economic measures that restrict China.
Chinese government subsidies and other policy support have encouraged the event of solar panels Electric vehicle manufacturer in China to take a position in factories and construct much more production capability than the domestic market can accommodate.
The huge scale of production has driven down costs and sparked price wars for green technologies, a boon to consumers and efforts to cut back the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. But Western governments They fear this capability will flood their markets with low-cost exports and endanger American and European jobs.
“It will be critically important for our future bilateral relations and for China’s relations with other important countries, and this provides a structured opportunity to continue to listen to each other and see if we can find a path forward that avoids this They conflict,” Yellen told reporters.
The exchange on balanced growth and money laundering will happen inside existing economic and financial working groups arrange after Yellen’s meeting with He in July.
Yellen spoke positively about joint efforts to deal with U.S. concerns about Chinese firms selling goods to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
“We believe there is more to do, but I see it as an area where we have agreed to work together and we have already seen some significant progress,” she said.
Previous state media coverage of their trip had cited U.S. concerns about overcapacity as a possible pretext for tariffs. In a commentary published Friday evening, Xinhua wrote that while Yellen’s trip was sign that the world’s two largest economies are continuing to speak, “highlighting ‘Chinese overcapacity’ in clean energy also has the impression.” “To create a pretext for introducing more protectionist measures.” Policies to guard US firms.”
Yellen told reporters during a refueling stop in Alaska en path to China that the U.S. would “not rule out” tariffs in response to China’s heavily subsidized manufacturing of green energy products.
The United States has made efforts through laws and regulations to wean itself from certain Chinese technologies so as to expand its domestic production capability. Many members of the White House and Congress view the measures as essential to maintaining national security.
The $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act The law, passed in 2022, goals to spice up the semiconductor industry and scientific research to create more high-tech jobs within the United States and help it higher compete with China. US President Joe Biden was added last August signed an executive order to dam and regulate US high-tech investments towards China.
Yellen will hold meetings with other senior officials and economic experts in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.
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Moritsugu reported from Beijing.
