• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Seven Key Issues to Watch This Week in U.S.-China Trade Talks

Seven Key Issues to Watch This Week in U.S.-China Trade Talks

Seven Key Issues to Watch This Week in U.S.-China Trade Talks
January 7, 2019
Bloomberg

U.S. and Chinese officials are set to begin trade negotiations on Monday in the hope of reaching a deal during a 90-day truce between President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping.

While the mid-level talks probably won’t produce a major breakthrough, the stakes are high as both sides face a resumption of tariffs in March if they don’t strike a deal. More senior-level discussions are expected later this month, with the South China Morning Post reporting that Trump may hold talks with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Here are seven issues that will be key to making headway:

1. Intellectual Property

The U.S. accusation that China forces American companies to share sensitive technology and steals intellectual property is one of the thorniest issues, and could make or break any potential deal. The 90-day negotiations will focus on “structural changes” in the way China handles technology transfers, intellectual-property protection, cyber-theft and other issues, the U.S. said after Trump and Xi met in Argentina.

China has announced an array of punishments that could restrict companies’ access to borrowing and state-funding support over intellectual-property theft, and is drafting a law to prevent forced technology transfer. But the devil will be in the details and execution.

2. Huawei and 5G

Huawei Technologies Co., China’s biggest maker of telecom equipment, has long denied accusations by the U.S. and its allies of facilitating state-sponsored espionage. The company is racing to develop 5G technology and owns a tenth of essential patents worldwide. But its efforts have been frustrated by the U.S., which has banned its products for government procurement and encouraged other nations to do the same.

Beijing has also demanded Canada release Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada on the behalf of the U.S. for alleged bank fraud. The FBI is also probing possible Iranian sanctions violations by the company. Two Canadians who were seized after Meng’s arrest remain detained in China.

3. Made in China 2025

Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” plan aims to transform China into an advanced manufacturing leader by targeting 10 emerging sectors including robotics, clean-energy vehicles and biotechnology. The industrial ambition has raised the ire of the White House, which argues its state-led intervention violates WTO rules and could create an unfair playing field for foreign investors. Tariffs imposed by Trump took aim at many of the industries targeted in the plan.

China sees the plan as essential to achieving its long-term economic goals. Last month, people familiar said China may be willing to amend the plan, perhaps even postponing some of it by a decade, if that helps bring an end to the trade war.

4. Energy

The trade tensions have disrupted what should be a sweet deal for the two countries: The U.S. is becoming a major oil and natural gas exporter while China has emerged as the world’s biggest buyer of both. While lifting China’s retaliatory tariff on U.S. liquefied natural gas may revive sales, the bigger, longer-term concern for the industry is restoring enough trust to convince Chinese companies to invest the billions of dollars in future American LNG export projects. 

Meanwhile, any assurances from Beijing that it won’t target U.S. crude would help dispel the concerns that choked off sales last year.

5. Agricultural imports

Investors will be watching to see if China removes retaliatory tariffs on U.S. farm products — including soybeans, corn, cotton, sorghum and pork — that severely hurt America’s heartland. Lifting the tariffs could encourage private buyers to immediately resume U.S. farm-product purchases. China may also remove its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on U.S. distiller’s dried grains, which China is the largest buyer of, as well as allow imports of U.S. poultry after it gave the green light on U.S. rice purchases. 

If talks fail, China may also cancel some soybean orders that have been placed over the past weeks.

6. Auto tariffs

After imposing a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on vehicles imported from the U.S., China temporarily scrapped the duty starting Jan. 1 as the world’s two largest economies looked for a way to cool trade tensions. 

The additional tax has hurt all carmakers that sell U.S.-made cars in China, including Tesla Inc., BMW AG and Daimler AG. Auto sales in China have fallen for six consecutive months through November, and December data is due this week.

7. Market access for banks

China has pledged to increase access for foreign-owned financial firms. In November, UBS Group AG became the first entity to win control of a local securities joint venture under rules that were eased in 2018. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. are still waiting for approval to take 51 percent stakes in onshore partnerships.

Xi says the opening is steadily widening, and Bloomberg Economics estimates that — barring a major economic slowdown or change — foreign banks and securities companies could be raking in profits of more than $32bn a year in China by 2030.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Global Gateways Global Logistics Global Trade & Economics Regulation & Compliance Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt Automotive Chemicals & Energy Food & Beverage Healthcare High-Tech/Electronics Industrial Manufacturing Pharmaceutical/Biotech
KEYWORDS Automotive Chemicals & Energy China Food and Beverage Global Gateways Global Logistics Global Trade & Economics healthcare High-Tech/Electronics Industrial Manufacturing Logistics North America Pharmaceutical/Biotech Regulation & Compliance SC Security & Risk Mgmt
  • Related Articles

    Trump Says U.S. ‘Right Where We Want to Be’ on China Trade Talks

    China Buys Two Million Tons of U.S. Soybeans After Trade Talks

    Europe Has A Lot to Lose in U.S.-China Trade War

Bloomberg

BioNTech Expands German Plant as Scholz Vows to Help Pharma

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • DOCUMENTS BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION LIE ON A TABLE

    New CBP Regs Call for Greater Diligence by Brokers in Reporting Security Breaches

    Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • GSCMS-Promo.png

    Watch: Introducing the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit

    Education & Professional Development
  • DEEPLY CRACKED EARTH UNDER A BLUE CLOUDY SKY

    Why Maritime Supply Chains Must Adapt to Sustainability Regulations

    Ocean Transportation

Digital Edition

Scb nov 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing