U.S. sends China to-do list to cut trade imbalances - WSJ

 

U.S. President Donald Trump signs a memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech goods from China, at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 22, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. administration last week sent a letter to Chinese economic overseer Liu He seeking a tariff cut on U.S. autos to help cut China's trade surplus with the United States, the Wall Street Journal said, citing unnamed sources.

 

In the letter, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said China should also buy more U.S. semiconductors and give U.S. firms greater access to the Chinese financial sector, the Journal said, quoting sources with knowledge of the matter.

 

In the past few days, fears of a trade war have mounted following U.S. President Donald Trump announcement on Thursday of plans for tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods.

 

Firing a retaliatory warning shot in response to separate U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium, China declared plans to levy additional duties on up to $3 billion (2.12 billion pounds) of U.S. imports.

 

The deepening rift has sent a chill through financial markets and the corporate world as investors predicted dire consequences for the global economy should trade barriers start going up.

 

Liu He, one of China's newly appointed vice premiers, told Mnuchin in a telephone call on Saturday that the U.S. has flouted trade rules with its inquiry into intellectual property, and that China will defend its interests.

 

U.S. officials say an eight-month probe under the 1974 U.S. Trade Act has found that China engages in unfair trade practices by forcing American investors to turn over key technologies to Chinese firms.

 

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-26

What color Crayola crayons were used to make the list?

1 hour ago, webfact said:

...forcing American investors to turn over key technologies to Chinese firms.

It is rather ironic the American investors succumbed to the (insurmountable) pressure applied by Chinese...

But  please keep supplying  crucial  components  for  our   military  superiority  at   discount  prices  !  Pathetic   bs

 

I'll give it to Trump for this one, China wants intel and trade secrets for being able to produce there. Its unfair.

58 minutes ago, mike324 said:

I'll give it to Trump for this one, China wants intel and trade secrets for being able to produce there. Its unfair.

Yea... they need the information as American companies like Intel, Apple and others have moved their production from US to China!!!

The can has been kicked way too far down the road at this point for any of this tariff nonsense to matter.  Pointless wars raging in the middle east for the past 16+ years coupled with massive tax cuts for the wealthy (by and large) have led to this point.  The US needs China to keep financing the debt, and China needs the US to keep absorbing their cheap plastic crap imports, immigrant labor, and international students.  Not a bright future for the American taxpayer.  Thanks, baby boomers.