The bitter dispute between the USA and China has taken a step towards civility, after an invitation from Washington was welcomed by Beijing.
The US invited China to resume trade talks, in what South China Morning Post has described as a “goodwill gesture.” In response to the invitation, China’s Ministry of Commerce said details were being discussed on how to put the invitation into practice, with spokesman Gao Feng acknowledging that “an escalating trade war is not beneficial to the two nations.”
In addition, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Asian superpower’s Foreign Ministry, said the country “welcomed” Washington’s invitation.
As part of that invitation, the American Government proposed a new round of “high-level” talks, aimed at halting any further escalation of the trade war that ignited earlier this year.
The Wall Street Journal also reports that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has invited his opposite number from the Chinese administration, Vice-Premier Liu He, for negotiations “in the coming weeks.”
The welcome de-escalation comes mere days after China was set to ask the World Trade Organisation for permission to impose further sanctions on the USA.
As reported by CNBC, China was originally ready to seek authorisation at a special meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body on the 21st of September. The request hit global markets in a negative fashion earlier this week, and Donald Trump has indicated that the USA would be willing to withdraw from the WTO “if they don’t shape up.”
The trade war has been rumbling discordantly on since the US imposed additional tariffs on around $50 billion (€43 billion) of Chinese imports in July, in retaliation for alleged violation of American IP rights.
