The top US envoy to China called on Thursday for fair and reciprocal trade between the world’s two largest economies and expressed concern about projections that China’s dominance of global manufacturing will grow even further in the years to come.
US Ambassador David Perdue told business and government leaders in Beijing that China should be congratulated on becoming a manufacturing powerhouse, but echoed fears in Europe and elsewhere that China’s exports pose a threat to factories and jobs in other countries.
“This is not healthy for the rest of the world,” he said in remarks to an annual dinner of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
Perdue was appointed by US President Donald Trump, who has imposed tariffs on imports from China and many other countries in a bid to reindustrialise and boost factory jobs in the United States.
US ambassador to China David Perdue speaks during an American Chamber of Commerce in China event in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: AP
China responded with tariffs on imports from the US. An ensuing tit-for-tat spiral drove tariffs sky-high before the two sides agreed to a series of 90-day truces. In late October, both countries agreed to a one-year pause when Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea during a gathering of Asia-Pacific nations.