China and the United States opened 2019 by “putting out the fire” of the trade war.

High-level dialogue between China and the US

The same was stated by the head of the US Treasury Department Stephen Mnuchin.

There have been no new threats from the US against China since Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump agreed to pause their trade war and begin consultations on December 1 in Buenos Aires. Observers interpreted this as a definite sign of progress.

On December 22, 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that China and the United States had “made new progress” on the issues of trade balance and intellectual property. The progress was made through telephone consultations between official representatives of the two countries. Previously, on December 14, Beijing announced that from January 1, 2019, it would suspend additional tariffs on automobiles and spare parts made in the United States. The parties also prepared reports on the resumption of the soybean trading mechanism and the liberalization of US investment rules in the Chinese market.

The US will not agree to half-measures in trade negotiations with China

In that context, the upcoming China-US consultations may take place in a quite positive direction.

The US delegation will be led by Deputy Trade Representative Jeffrey Jerrish. This is not the highest level of representation, which also means that the two sides are not really looking to reach a full-fledged trade agreement at this time.

Mr. Alexandr Lamanov, expert from the Institute of Far East (Russia) said:

It is possible to reach an agreement on reducing the US trade deficit. In principle, China was ready to agree on this earlier, just as it was ready to negotiate. In addition, the US side could negotiate increased access to the Chinese market for US producers, not only of goods, but also of services. For example, the number of US insurance companies could increase, there could be more banks, there could be more types of entertainment. Of course, in the Chinese market, more space could be found for US natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. The same applies to US soybeans. Anything that involves increased purchases of US products, an agreement could be reached.

As for China, it is unlikely to give up its scientific and technological ambitions under US pressure. China will not give up its plan to modernize its science and technology. Despite the opposition of the United States and other Western countries, Beijing will promote its high-tech products in foreign markets, especially Huawei and ZTE equipment.

Meanwhile, on the morning of January 3, Reuters reported that US President Donald Trump may issue a decree in January to ban US companies from buying telecommunications equipment from foreign manufacturers. According to the agency's news, the names of Huawei and ZTE companies do not appear in the decree text, but few observers believe that this document is not against the two companies.