US commerce secretary visits Beijing ahead of Trump trip

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross meets Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Zhongnanhai state guesthouse in Beijing yesterday

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said yesterday that Washington is hoping for concrete progress during President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China amid rising trade and Korean peninsula tensions.

Ross met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the country’s top economic official, during a three-nation Asian tour. Trump is due to visit Beijing later this year and meet President Xi Jinping, who visited the United States in April.

“We hope there will be some very good deliverables,” Ross said at the start of a meeting at the Zhongnanhai compound where Chinese leaders live and work in central Beijing. That “would be the best single outcome for both countries,” Ross said.

Ross gave no details, but Trump has criticized China’s large trade surpluses with the United States and threatened to raise tariffs on steel. He has ordered an investigation into whether Beijing improperly pressures companies to hand over technology in exchange for market access.

Chinese leaders have tried to head off punitive U.S. action by emphasizing the benefits of the world’s biggest trading relationship.

“I think it is fair to say that our common interests far outweigh our differences,” said Li, the premier. “This important trade and economic relations has benefited enormously our two peoples as well as the whole world.”

U.S. officials have been greeted warmly [in China], Ross said, adding that it “augers very well for the forthcoming visit between President Trump and President Xi. We are looking forward to a very good session including a lot of American CEOs.”

Beijing is Ross’s first stop on a Sept. 24-29 trip to Asia that will also include visits to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Vientiane, Laos. Ross also met yesterday with Vice Premier Wang Yang to discuss issues including increased market access for U.S. firms, according to the official Weibo account of the U.S. Embassy in China.

Ross’s visit comes as the U.S. has increased calls to reduce the trade deficit with the world’s biggest exporting nation. Earlier this month, he announced a probe into China’s stainless steel flanges for alleged unfair subsidies, the latest move after the U.S. Trade Representative began an investigation into China’s intellectual property practices.

China last week announced it would restrict some oil product exports to North Korea, as Trump seeks to further isolate Kim Jong Un’s regime.

Ross was due to visit Hong Kong today. MDT/Agencies