BEIJING 鈥� China鈥檚 commerce minister appealed to Washington for 鈥渏oint efforts鈥� to revive trade but gave no indication Wednesday when tariff war talks might resume or whether Beijing might offer concessions.
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President Joe Biden has yet to announce a strategy for dealing with Beijing but is widely expected to renew pressure on trade and technology complaints that prompted his predecessor, Donald Trump, to raise taxes on Chinese imports.
Wang said he looked forward to 鈥渏oint efforts鈥� to 鈥減ush bilateral economic and trade relations back to the track of
Washington and Beijing have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods, disrupting global trade. They agreed last January to postpone further penalties but most taxes already imposed stayed in place.
Beijing agreed to narrow its trade surplus with the United States by purchasing more American soybeans and other exports. It fell short of the targets set due to the coronavirus pandemic and bought about 55% of the promised goods.
China鈥檚 foreign trade situation is 鈥渟evere and complicated,鈥� Wang said. He said Beijing is launching e-commerce and other initiatives to encourage sales. One focus will be markets in its 鈥淏elt and Road Initiative鈥� to build ports, railways and other trade-related infrastructure.
The Associated Press
