China to US: No Respect, No Talks – Ex-Finance Official Warns Amid Soaring Tariffs
A former top Chinese economic policymaker has issued a sharp message to Washington: if the US wants negotiations, it must first show respect.
Zhu Guangyao, who served as China's Vice Minister of Finance from 2010 to 2018 and was deeply involved in US-China trade negotiations, stated in an interview in Singapore that China will not engage in talks over tariffs if the US continues to impose its will.
'If the US wants China to totally accept the US proposal, to accept the US conditionality, I think there's no negotiation,' Zhu said bluntly, highlighting that mutual respect and peaceful coexistence must form the foundation of any future dialogue.
Tariff Tensions at Breaking Point
The remarks come as China and the US remain entangled in a severe trade war that has escalated over the past two weeks. Tariffs have surged to historic highs, with Chinese goods facing US tariffs of 145%, and American exports to China being met with a 125% rate — nearly bringing trade between the world's two largest economies to a standstill.
The impact is weighing heavily on China's economy, already strained by deflation, weak consumer demand, and a prolonged property crisis. UBS Group AG has downgraded China's 2025 growth forecast to just 3.4%, the lowest among major global banks.
Confidence and Conditions
Despite mounting pressure, Zhu said China remains confident it will hit its 5% growth target this year, noting that it's a key benchmark for the final year of the country's 14th Five-Year Plan. He emphasized that domestic consumption is expected to rise and that China has the fiscal room to increase spending if needed.
Zhu also pushed back on speculation that China may retaliate by selling off its massive holdings of US Treasury bonds. He called China a 'very responsible investor' committed to global market stability, though he underlined that any such approach is rooted in 'mutual respect and cooperation.'
Not There Yet, Says the US
On the American side, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged that while President Trump expects talks "at some point," the sides are 'not there yet.' Trump has called President Xi Jinping a 'friend' and expressed hope for direct leader-to-leader negotiations, though tensions remain high.
Zhu's comments echo a long-standing Chinese stance: Beijing is open to dialogue but will not be coerced or threatened. The current deadlock appears far from resolution unless Washington adjusts its approach, at least according to China's former top negotiators.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Tribune
7 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
US aerospace industry anxious as tariffs loom
AFP | New York US airlines and aerospace manufacturers insist they have no use for tariff protections, warning that the proposed Trump administration levies could eat into the healthy trade surplus the sector has enjoyed for more than 70 years. At the request of President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's department launched an investigation on May 1 to determine whether to impose tariffs of between 10 and 20% on civil aircraft and parts, including engines. The US industry those tariffs were crafted to protect swiftly let the administration know it was not interested. 'Imposing broad tariff or non-tariff trade barriers on the imports of civil aviation technology would risk reversing decades of industrial progress and harm the domestic supply chain,' the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) said in a letter addressed to Lutnick and obtained by AFP. The interested parties were given until June 3 to communicate their positions. The very next day, Lutnick announced that Washington aimed to 'set the standard for aircraft part tariffs' by the end of this month. 'The key is to protect that industry,' he said, adding: 'We will use these tariffs for the betterment of American industry.' But AIA and the Airlines for America (A4A) trade association voiced fear that far from helping, the tariffs would end up harming US manufacturers. No fix needed 'Unlike other industries, the civil aviation manufacturing industry prioritizes domestic production of high-value components and final assembly,' AIA pointed out. According to the organization, US aerospace and defense exports reached $135.9 billion in 2023, including $113.9 billion for civil aviation alone. This allowed the sector to generate a trade surplus of $74.5 billion and to invest $34.5 billion in research and development, it said. The sector employs more than 2.2 million people in the United States across more than 100,000 companies, which in 2023 produced goods worth nearly $545 billion. In its response to Lutnick, the A4A highlighted how beneficial the international Agreement on Trade in Commercial Aviation (ATCA) had been by helping to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers over nearly half a century. 'The US civil aviation industry is the success story that President Trump is looking for as it leads civil aerospace globally,' it insisted. A full 84% of production was already American, it said, stressing that Washington 'does not need to fix the 16 percent' remaining. 'The current trade framework has enhanced our economic and national security and is a critical component to maintaining our national security moving forward,' it said. For manufacturers, the potential tariffs would act like sand jamming a well-oiled machine that has been running smoothly for decades, experts warned. They would also throw off balance an ultra-sensitive supply chain still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Competitive disadvantage' 'To avoid the situation getting worse, we advocate to keep aerospace outside of trade wars,' Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told the organization's general assembly last week. AIA meanwhile stressed that 'aircraft and parts are already in high demand and have a limited supply.' 'Integrating new suppliers and expanding capacity is complex, timely, and costly,' it warned, pointing out that finding suppliers capable of meeting rigorous safety certifications could 'take up to 10 years.' Delta Air Lines also argued for sticking with the status quo, cautioning that the proposed tariffs 'would hinder Delta's ability to maintain its current trajectory.' 'If component parts incur tariffs upon entering the United States, Delta will be at a competitive disadvantage to foreign competitors,' it said. 'The action would also impose an unexpected tax on Delta's purchases of aircraft contracted years in advance.' Delta chief Ed Bastian insisted in late April that the airline 'will not be paying tariffs on any aircraft deliveries we take,' adding that it was 'working very closely with (European group) Airbus' to minimize the impact. Delta pointed out in its letter to Lutnick that it currently had 100 aircraft on order from Boeing, and that it was demanding that its Airbus A220s be produced primarily in Mobile, Alabama. But if the tariffs are imposed, it warned, 'Delta would likely be forced to cancel existing contracts and reconsider contracts under negotiation.'
Daily Tribune
7 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
China vice premier to meet US delegation for trade talks: Beijing
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet a US delegation for talks next week in Britain, Beijing announced Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He will visit the United Kingdom from June 8 to 13 at the invitation of the British government, China's foreign ministry said in a statement. It said He and American representatives will co-chair the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism. US President Donald Trump had already announced on Friday that a new round of trade talks with China would kick off in London beginning Monday, after he spoke by phone with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a bid to end a bitter battle over tariffs. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would meet the Chinese team. A first meeting, held in mid-May in Geneva, brought a pause to the US-China trade dispute.
Daily Tribune
8 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
Troops sent by Trump reach protest-hit Los Angeles
SK AFP | Los Angeles Hundreds of National Guard troops took up positions in Los Angeles yesterday on US President Donald Trump's orders, a rare deployment against the state governor's wishes after sometimes violent protests against immigration enforcement raids. The US military said 300 soldiers from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team had been sent to three separate locations in the greater Los Angeles area, and were "conducting safety and protection of federal property & personnel." Helmeted troops in camouflage gear and carrying automatic weapons could be seen in front of a federal complex -- including a detention center -- with the phrase "Our City" spray-painted on it in downtown Los Angeles. The deployment overrode the protests of local officials, an extraordinary move not seen in decades and deemed "purposefully inflammatory" by California Governor Gavin Newsom. It came ahead of more planned protests in the city, which has a large Latino population, including a call by organizers for a "mass mobilization" at City Hall at 2:00 pm local time (2100 GMT). "Trump is sending 2,000 National Guard troops into LA County -- not to meet an unmet need, but to manufacture a crisis," Newsom posted on X Sunday. "He's hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control. Stay calm. Never use violence. Stay peaceful." Newsom's warning came after Los Angeles was rocked by two days of confrontations, during which federal agents fired flash-bang grenades and tear gas toward crowds angry at the arrests of dozens of migrants. Pepper spray could still be smelled from the clashes overnight, AFP reporters in downtown Los Angeles said, while some scuffles between protesters and federal law enforcement could be seen early Sunday in the neighborhood of Compton. Republicans lined up behind Trump to dismiss warnings by Newsom and other local officials that the protests had been largely peaceful, and that the National Guard deployment would exacerbate tensions. "I have no concern about that at all," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told ABC's "This Week". As for threats by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday to send in active-duty Marines on top of the Guard troops, Johnson said he did not see that as "heavy-handed." "We have to be prepared to do what is necessary," he argued. Overnight an AFP photographer saw fires and fireworks light up the streets during clashes, while a protester holding a Mexican flag stood in front of a burnt-out car that had been sprayed with a slogan against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. "It's up to us to stand up for our people," said a Los Angeles resident whose parents are immigrants, declining to give her name as emergency services lights flashed in the distance.
