By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – America’s top trade negotiator has pledged to exclude some Chinese imports from tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump, while pressing Beijing on its breach of promises and an end to harmful industrial policies.
Katherine Tai said Monday that the United States will keep all options open as it continues to pressure China to stop providing billions of dollars in state subsidies in its semiconductor, steel and other industries that Washington says hurt American companies. .
Revealing the results of a comprehensive review of China’s trade policy, Tai said he will seek a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the coming days to review Beijing’s breach of the February “Phase 1” trade agreement. 2020, including a deficit in purchases of promised US goods.
“Above all, we must defend – to the end – our economic interests,” Tai said at an event organized by the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“That means taking all necessary measures to protect ourselves against the waves of damage inflicted over the years by unfair competition,” he added.
Washington is “prepared to deploy all the tools and explore the development of new ones, including through collaboration with other economies and countries” by charting a new course to change the trajectory of the trade dynamics between the United States and China, he said. (Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Nandita Bose. Edited in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)
