The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
US officials also allege China has hacked US networks and conducted industrial espionage to steal US intellectual property.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his top economics advisor Liu He to Washington this month to discuss the tensions of trade, but the US official said that at no point had the Chinese made a constructive proposal.
“Certainly by November, the background was such that officials in China had reason to know about the concerns we’ve raised … At least, as of today the administration has not been satisfied with the types of responses we’ve been getting from China,” the senior official in Lighthizer’s office said, speaking on condition of anonymity in a briefing to reporters.
“Obviously the president will have the final say in terms of what we end up doing here.”
“As a general matter, we do have very strong evidence that China uses foreign ownership restrictions such as joint venture requirements and foreign equity limitations to require or pressure technology transfer from US companies to Chinese entities,” he added.
– Tariffs talks –
Along with the announcement of that offensive, Washington also held out the possibility of a detente with regards to the EU, which reacted furiously to the news of steel and aluminum tariffs.
In a joint statement, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said they agreed to immediately begin “a process of discussion” on the tariffs and other matters “with a view to identifying mutually acceptable outcomes as rapidly as possible.”
Malmstrom had called for Europe to be exempted as a whole. Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, European Council President Donald Tusk said he harbored “cautious optimism” on the prospects for a resolution.
The White House already said Canada and Mexico, which are major producers of the metals, will temporarily be exempt from the tariffs during talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
