US President Donald Trump has welcomed promises made by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to continue opening up China’s economy, praising Beijing’s “kind words” as a breakthrough in a looming trade war between the two countries.
On Tuesday, Xi pledged to allow foreign companies greater access to his country’s financial and manufacturing sectors, signaling lower tariffs on cars in a bid to neutralize a damaging trade war with the US.
“This year, we will considerably reduce auto import tariffs, and at the same time reduce import tariffs on some other products,” Xi said.
He also said that China would take measures to raise foreign equity caps in the banking, securities and insurance industries as it promised last year.
“We will ensure that these measures are materialized,” Xi told the Boao Forum for Asia conference.
Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on as much as $150 billion in US imports from China, gave Xi’s speech a warm welcome.
Meanwhile, the White House tempered Trump’s praise of Xi, saying concrete action must be taken before the US would consider lifting tariffs against China.
“We’re encouraged by the words, but we want to see concrete steps and concrete action,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said shortly after Trump tweeted his message. “We want to see more than just the rhetoric,” she added.
Till that happens, she said, tariffs would continue to enter into force.
The Trump administration initiated a trade war last month, when the president imposed heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China.
China initially cautioned against a trade war even as it signaled its readiness to fight one. Ultimately, Beijing retaliated by imposing tariffs on a range of American goods.
Trump then threatened to impose an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods.