China warns US that trade deal enforcement must be ‘two-way’

Bloomberg

The enforcement mechanism for a prospective deal to end the trade war between China and the US must be “two way, fair and equal,” according to Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen.
Speaking on Saturday at a press conference in Beijing, Wang said he “feels hopeful” about the prospects for the negotiations, which are nearing completion amid pressure from US President Donald Trump to seal a deal. Wang is China’s deputy international trade representative and also leads the Chinese working team in the trade talks with the US.
While US negotiators led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have insisted on a mechanism — that could include a regular schedule of meetings — to enforce the terms of their agreement, that prospect has raised alarm in Beijing. Former high ranking officials have said that the deal will be seen as lopsided unless it also binds the US to address China’s own grievances.
The US and Chinese leaders agreed in December to work towards removing all additional tariffs, Wang said, adding that they’ve made substantial progress in the talks since then. He didn’t elaborate further on the enforcement mechanism or respond to a question on whether he expects that a deal can be signed this month.
Few details of the possible deal so far have been revealed. Beijing seems ready to buy more American agricultural products, but the two sides are still haggling over more important structural issues, such as state subsidies, market access and forced technology transfers.

Chicken & Hamburgers
Chinese officials have made clear in a series of negotiations with the US in recent weeks that removing levies on $200 billion of Chinese goods quickly was necessary to finalize any deal, according to people familiar with the discussions. But the US wants to continue to wield the threat of tariffs as leverage to ensure China won’t renege on the deal, and only lift the duties fully when Beijing implemented all parts of the agreement.
As a sign of the earnestness of talks, Wang detailed a lunch-time session at the last round of negotiations in Washington. The two sides decided to order take-out food in order to keep talks going. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He dined on a hamburger while his counterpart, Lighthizer, ate a Chinese dish of chicken with eggplant. Coffee and tea were served.
“But they did not drink coffee or tea, both drank water,” said Wang. “That’s what we call finding common ground.”

China factory prices
stabilize in February
China’s factory price growth remained steady in February at a close-to-zero reading that signals the continued risk of deflation in the world’s second-largest economy.
The producer price index rose 0.1 percent in February from a year earlier, while the consumer price index rose 1.5 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That was compared to estimates of 0.2 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.
In line with the global low-inflation environment, China’s producer prices and consumer prices have slowed since late last year, adding to the pressure on company profits and debt
repayments.