A flag stall at the Yiwu wholesale market in Zhejiang Province, China, on May 10, 2019.
Ali Song | Reuters
BEIJING — China stressed the need for greater cooperation with the United States, a day after it became clear President-elect Donald Trump would become the next leader of the White House.
“China is willing to strengthen communication, expand cooperation and resolve differences with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yongqian told reporters on Thursday, according to a CNBC translation in Mandarin.
She was responding to questions about China’s views and planned countermeasures in light of the possibility of U.S. tariffs and restrictions on high-end technology.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said: “We can jointly promote the development of China-US economic and trade relations in a stable, healthy and sustainable direction, benefiting both countries and the world.”
Her comments echoed those of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who earlier in the day noted the benefits of bilateral cooperation In a congratulatory letter to Trumpaccording to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During Trump’s first four-year term, which began in 2017, Washington became tougher on Beijing. This year, the president-elect threatened Increase tariffs on Chinese goods while running for his second term.
Su Yue, chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said Trump may impose such tariffs in the first half of next year. She added that White House leaders could do this by invoking International Emergency Economic Powers Act or Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15% on goods Coping with severe balance of payments deficits.
Other analysts are less concerned about a significant increase in U.S. tariffs against China.
“Trump’s current tariff proposal is probably a worst-case scenario,” David Chao, global market strategist for Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Invesco, said in a note on Thursday. “I suspect the new administration will delay imposing these. tariffs to win concessions, whether it’s more purchases of U.S. soybeans or geopolitical concessions.”
He added, “More importantly, I don’t think Trump’s proposed 60% tariff policy on China will have a significant impact on (multinational companies’) confidence or sentiment.”
However, Chao said a 10% tariff on all exports to the United States could have a bigger impact, weakening global demand and hitting China and the rest of Asia.
