WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai discussed the importance of U.S.-China trade relations during a meeting on Friday with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, her office said.
Tai stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open between Washington and Beijing as they spoke on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific economic cooperation meeting in Detroit, the statement said.
“Ambassador Tai underscored the need to address the critical imbalances caused by China’s non-market, state-led approach to economics and trade policy. She also raised concerns about the PRC (People’s Republic of China) actions taken against US companies operating there”. the statement said.
The talks came a day after U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Wang swapped barbs on trade, investment and export policies at their own meeting, the first U.S.-China exchange in the cabinet level for months between the world’s two largest economies.
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping promised more frequent communications at a G20 summit in Indonesia last November to prevent US-China tensions from escalating into a new Cold War.
But those plans suffered several setbacks, starting with the downing of a Chinese spy balloon in US coastal waters.
These irritants continued last Sunday, when G7 leaders pledged to resist China’s “economic coercion” and Beijing responded by declaring US memory chipmaker Micron Technology a national security risk, banning its sales to major domestic industries.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Tim Ahmann)