【Wen / Observers Network, Yuan Jiaqi】
Over the past days, U.S. trade officials have made several positive statements regarding Sino-U.S. trade negotiations. According to Reuters and Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, among others, on Wednesday local time, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, stating that after a year of intense exchanges on tariff issues, the U.S. is striving to build a more "constructive" relationship with China and will continue to promote a "manageable" bilateral trade relationship.
The report points out that after five rounds of key negotiations and the summit meeting between the leaders in Busan in October, the Sino-U.S. tensions have temporarily eased. When talking about the relationship with China, Tai admitted, "It must be clearly stated that President Trump has given high priority to building a constructive bilateral relationship with China."
According to the dialogue transcript released on the official website of the Atlantic Council, when talking about the Chinese measures such as controlling rare earth exports as countermeasures against U.S. tariffs, this U.S. trade representative said, "We actually have options to escalate our response. We have quite a few cards in our hand, not only toward China, but also toward all other countries."
He also emphasized that Trump's intention is certainly not to completely mess everything up, "including the Sino-U.S. relationship," so his government is fully seeking feasible paths to promote reasonable and balanced trade in goods and services between the two countries.
"To be honest, since the Geneva talks in May this year, we have been working with China to push forward this more constructive path," he continued, "and since then, we have seen the bilateral relationship gradually moving towards balance on a positive track."
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Screenshot from the Atlantic Council's official video
At the meeting, Tai emphasized that reducing the bilateral trade deficit is a key agenda item for the Trump administration. According to current trends, the deficit is expected to decrease by about a quarter this year.
He revealed that since August, the scale of imports from the U.S. has significantly declined, and the U.S.-China trade deficit has continued to narrow, with China now ranking third as the U.S. import source, following Canada and Mexico. Based on this situation, he believes "U.S.-China trade just needs to be managed," without the need for specific tariff arrangements targeting China.
Regarding criticism that the Trump administration has not united traditional allies on China-related issues, Tai said directly, "Sometimes we hear partners say 'we should be consistent on China issues,' and often, the underlying message is 'don't impose tariffs on me.'"
"In my personal view, taking action to address overcapacity and market distortions is in the interest of all countries. Whether these problems come from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, or any other country, right?" He then directly named the EU, saying that the U.S. has "many concerns about its regulatory policies."
Therefore, the Trump administration prefers unilateral actions rather than forming an international alliance. Tai acknowledged that these measures are mostly related to China, due to the huge U.S.-China trade deficit and significant differences in economic models. But he emphasized that this also explains why the U.S. and China should maintain trade cooperation.
"I believe the focus of the U.S.-China economic and trade relationship is to achieve a more balanced trade," he said.
He also added, "Washington people often talk about 'hawks' and 'doves' on China issues, but this division does not accurately describe the views of the Trump administration. Our position is clear, which is 'America First.'"
Reuters reported that Tai avoided commenting on whether the Trump administration approved NVIDIA's sales of H200 chips to China.
According to the transcript, he mentioned it briefly, "We need to clarify the import and export demands of both sides. Of course, in the field of high-end technology products, the situation is different. In this area, some content has clear boundaries, while others fall into gray areas."
He did not elaborate further, instead emphasizing, "We must clarify these boundaries. But in many areas, we should definitely conduct trade with China, right? For example, in consumer goods and low-tech product areas. We should export agricultural products, airplanes, and medical equipment to China."
Tai concluded that maintaining a constructive relationship with China is not contradictory to the U.S. goal of reducing the trade deficit. It should focus on trade areas where both sides have reached consensus, clearly defining a reasonable trade volume to promote trade balance. "As for those more challenging issues, we can leave them for later resolution."
Last Sunday (7th), U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Trade Representative Katherine Tai made statements consecutively, confirming that China has always abided by the terms of the bilateral trade agreement with the United States. They also directly refuted the claim that "China's soybean procurement has stalled."
According to NBC, since the resumption of procurement in late October, China has conducted at least 10 rounds of soybean purchases of varying sizes. By Tuesday, the total procurement had reached about 2.85 million tons. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also announced on Monday that private exporters had informed it of another order of 132,000 tons of soybeans for export to China.
Recent statements by U.S. government officials indicated that China has agreed to purchase at least 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans this season, and at least 25 million tons annually over the next three years. Some U.S. media then took the opportunity to hype up the claim that China's soybean procurement progress in recent weeks was far from meeting the requirements set by the White House statement that "the agreed procurement volume would be completed by the end of this year."
On Wednesday local time, during a hearing held by a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tai answered questions and said that the deadline for China's purchase of 12 million tons of soybeans was not the end of this year, but the end of the soybean "growing season."
He explained that there was a "difference in wording" between the White House's expression of the procurement deadline and the actual time required to complete the procurement.
NBC reported that Yellen also used the term "growing season" in her recent statements to describe the deadline for China's procurement.
Last Wednesday, Yellen participated in a summit activity hosted by The New York Times and stated that China's current procurement pace "is completely capable of completing" the 12 million-ton procurement target. Regarding the specific completion timeline, she mentioned, "I think it will be February 28th (2026)."
At the same time, Yellen also refuted the claim cited by the interviewer that "China has only purchased 330,000 tons of U.S. soybeans so far," calling it "misinformation."
Soybean trade is of great significance to U.S. agriculture. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2024, soybeans accounted for about 20% of U.S. crop income, valued at $46.8 billion, with about a quarter sold to China. However, due to the trade war initiated by the Trump administration, China once suspended the purchase of U.S. agricultural products for several months, causing losses of billions of dollars to U.S. farmers and grain traders.
Kevin Su, CEO of the American Soybean Export Association, recently said that China is a crucial market for the U.S. soybean industry. The association has been in the Chinese market since 1982 and has been deeply involved for 43 years. The U.S. soybean industry has long been cultivating the Chinese market and has established a solid network of relationships, which makes the Chinese market "irreplaceable."
He expressed confidence in the Sino-U.S. relationship, believing that the two countries will maintain a stable and long-term bilateral relationship, and that soybean trade could serve as a model, "showing how the two countries can cooperate, rebuild relations, and ensure they move in the right direction."
Latest developments in Sino-U.S. economic and trade consultations show that both sides are promoting the implementation of agreements through high-level dialogues. On December 5th, the Chinese side's lead negotiator for Sino-U.S. economic and trade, Vice Premier He Liufeng, held a video call with the U.S. side's lead negotiators, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Both sides had in-depth and constructive exchanges and will continue to play the role of the Sino-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism, continuously expanding the list of cooperation and shortening the problem list, promoting the sustained and stable improvement of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations.
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Original: toutiao.com/article/7582407831488365090/
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