US-China Trade Talks Begin, No Major Agreement Expected

中美贸易谈判开始，料难有重大成果

A high-level trade delegation from the United States arrived in Beijing Thursday to hold talks with Chinese officials on trade policies.

美国高层代表团周四抵达北京就贸易政策与中国官员举行会谈。

The U.S. team includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The Chinese side is led by Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic adviser to President Xi Jinping.

美国代表团包括商务部长罗斯、美国贸易代表莱特希泽以及财政部长姆努钦。中国方面由习主席的首席经济顾问、副总理刘鹤领衔。

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that China has unfair trade policies that hurt the U.S. economy and its workers. Trump also wants to reduce the large U.S. trade deficit with China.

美国总统川普曾多次表示，中国不公平的贸易政策损害了美国经济和工人。川普还希望减少美国与中国的大幅贸易逆差。

Foreign companies are concerned about policies that, they say, force them to share technology with Chinese partners in order to do business in China.

外国公司对一些政策非常担忧。他们称这些政策强迫他们与中国合作伙伴分享技术以便在中国开展业务。

The negotiations are expected to deal with ways to resolve these trade disputes. In addition, the two sides are expected to discuss newly-announced trade tariffs.

预计谈判会找到解决这些贸易争端的办法。此外，双方预计会讨论新近公布的贸易关税。

In early April, China announced tariffs on more than 100 U.S. goods, including vehicles, plastic goods and agricultural products. The new tariffs would affect $50 billion worth of U.S. products.

四月初，中国宣布对100多种美国商品的关税，其中包括汽车、塑料制品和农产品。新的关税将会影响到价值500亿美元的美国商品。

The move followed a Trump administration announcement that it planned to place tariffs on about $50 billion dollars of Chinese exports. Trump has also suggested he is considering putting additional tariffs on up to $100 billion in Chinese goods.

此举是在川普政府宣布计划对大约500亿美元中国商品征收关税之后。川普还表示他正考虑对价值1000亿美元的中国商品征收额外的关税。

China denies that it carries out unfair trading policies. However, it recently announced moves some observers see as partly answering the U.S. criticism.

中国否认实施了不公平的贸易政策。然而，该国最近宣布的举措被观察人士视为对美国批评的部分回应。

Chinese officials have promised to reduce a 25 percent tariff on imported foreign cars by 2022. China also announced it would drop rules requiring foreign automakers to share factory ownership and profits with Chinese companies by the same year.

中国官员已经承诺在2022年前降低对外国汽车进口征收的25%的关税。中国还宣布在2022年前放弃要求外国汽车制造商同中国公司分享工厂所有权和利润的规定。

Trump expressed hope about the new trade talks in a Twitter message late Wednesday. "Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade!" he tweeted. "I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!"

川普周三晚些时候在推特上表达了对新一轮贸易谈判的希望。他在推文中说：“我们出色的经贸团队已经抵达中国，他们要为在贸易领域营造一个公平的竞争环境进行磋商!我期待在不久的未来跟习主席见面。我们将一直保持良好(伟大的)关系!

U.S. government numbers released Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit with China fell 11.6 percent in March to $26 billion. That number comes after the deficit in February reached its highest level in nine years.

美国政府周四公布的数据显示，3月份美国同中国的贸易逆差下降了11.6%，降到了260亿美元。这一数字出现在2月份逆差达到9年来的最高水平之后。

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the talks had begun, but did not provide further information. The spokeswoman said China welcomed the talks. But she said the negotiations should be based on equality and respect, to provide a "win-win" agreement for both sides.

中国外交部发言人证实会谈已经开始，但是并未提供进一步信息。这位女发言人表示，中国欢迎会谈。但她表示，谈判应该以平等和尊重为基础，为双方提供一份双赢的协议。

The official China Daily said in an editorial Chinese officials would stand up to any "U.S. bullying as necessary" during the talks.

官方的《中国日报》在一篇社论中表示，中国官员在谈判期间会顶住美国的任何欺凌行为。

Christopher Balding is a professor at Peking University's HSBC Business School. He says getting the two sides to resolve major trade differences during the talks is likely to be very difficult.

克里斯托弗·鲍尔丁(Christopher Balding)是北京大学汇丰商学院的教授。他说，让双方在这轮谈判期间解决重大贸易分歧可能会非常困难。

"I would be somewhat surprised if there was any real change in the negotiating stance of either party," he said. He added that the main issue is China's repeated unwillingness to further open its markets.

他说：“如果任何一方的谈判立场没有发生实质变化，我都会感到有些惊讶。”他补充说，主要问题是中国一再不愿进一步开放市场。

Balding said he thinks the best result would be the two sides finding enough room to compromise to avoid getting into a possible trade war.

鲍尔丁表示，他认为最好的结果是双方找到足够的妥协空间，避免陷入可能的贸易战。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布莱恩·林恩报道。

A high-level trade delegation from the United States arrived in Beijing Thursday to hold talks with Chinese officials on trade policies.

The U.S. team includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The Chinese side is led by Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic adviser to President Xi Jinping.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that China has unfair trade policies that hurt the U.S. economy and its workers. Trump also wants to reduce the large U.S. trade deficit with China.

Foreign companies are concerned about policies that, they say, force them to share technology with Chinese partners in order to do business in China.

The negotiations are expected to deal with ways to resolve these trade disputes. In addition, the two sides are expected to discuss newly-announced trade tariffs.

In early April, China announced tariffs on more than 100 U.S. goods, including vehicles, plastic goods and agricultural products. The new tariffs would affect $50 billion worth of U.S. products.

The move followed a Trump administration announcement that it planned to place tariffs on about $50 billion dollars of Chinese exports. Trump has also suggested he is considering putting additional tariffs on up to $100 billion in Chinese goods.

China denies that it carries out unfair trading policies. However, it recently announced moves some observers see as partly answering the U.S. criticism.

Chinese officials have promised to reduce a 25 percent tariff on imported foreign cars by 2022. China also announced it would drop rules requiring foreign automakers to share factory ownership and profits with Chinese companies by the same year.

Trump expressed hope about the new trade talks in a Twitter message late Wednesday. “Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade!” he tweeted. “I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!”

Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade! I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

U.S. government numbers released Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit with China fell 11.6 percent in March to $26 billion. That number comes after the deficit in February reached its highest level in nine years.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the talks had begun, but did not provide further information. The spokeswoman said China welcomed the talks. But she said the negotiations should be based on equality and respect, to provide a “win-win” agreement for both sides.

The official China Daily said in an editorial Chinese officials would stand up to any “U.S. bullying as necessary” during the talks.

Christopher Balding is a professor at Peking University’s HSBC Business School. He says getting the two sides to resolve major trade differences during the talks is likely to be very difficult.

“I would be somewhat surprised if there was any real change in the negotiating stance of either party,” he said. He added that the main issue is China’s repeated unwillingness to further open its markets.

Balding said he thinks the best result would be the two sides finding enough room to compromise to avoid getting into a possible trade war.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

deficit – n. situation in which a country buys more from other countries than it sells to other countries

tariff – n. tax on goods coming or leaving a country

bullying – n. the mistreatment or abuse of someone by a stronger or more powerful individual

stance – n. opinion or belief about something