Trade frictions need rational settlements
June 28 , 2019China and the United States should take the precious opportunities offered by the current G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, to explore rational solutions to end trade friction between them, according to a recent report released by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a Beijing-based thinktank.
The report, entitled “Prospects for China-US trade, seeking a rational solution via the Argentina Consensus,” comprises four sections, basically focusing on misunderstandings surrounding trade deficits, negative impact of trade friction, voices calling for a resolution and China’s endeavors to improve the foreign investment environment.
The final chapter offers 10 recommendations in the hope that the bilateral trade that has such great and wide implications can return to the correct track following the Argentina Consensus reached during the last G20 summit held from November 30 to December 1, 2018, in Buenos Aires. According to the Argentina Consensus, both China and the United States agreed to refrain from imposing new tariffs.
Despite being optimistic about the outcomes of the upcoming China-US summit at the G20, the CCG report cautions that China needs to be prepared for a longstanding struggle against US tariff policies.
It also advises that the two countries should note their different statistical approaches resulting in a major misunderstanding underlying their trade disputes. And it encouraged the purchase of American products as a means to reduce the overall trade deficit and eliminate tariff-based trade friction damaging the interests of both countries.
