The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that two senior officials from China and the United States responsible for the trade relationship held a phone conversation, marking the first of its kind during President Joe Biden's administration. The ministry stated in a release that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in a "candid and pragmatic" conversation, noting that their discussions were "constructive" and took place in an atmosphere of "equality and mutual respect."
Relations between Beijing and Washington deteriorated under former President Donald Trump, dominated by a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. In January 2020, the two countries signed a trade agreement to end their two-year trade war, which included provisions related to intellectual property protection and technology transfer requirements, key demands from the United States.
However, the new Biden administration announced in April that it was assessing China's commitments under this agreement to determine its compliance. Katherine Tai, who took office as U.S. Trade Representative in March, stated that China's "capability" to meet its commitments to the United States is a "priority."
Under the "Phase One" agreement signed in January 2020, China committed to increasing its purchases of U.S. goods and services by at least $200 billion over the years 2020 and 2021. Despite this, Washington has maintained a 25% tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese exports, while China has kept tariffs on $100 billion of U.S. exports. The Biden administration routinely defends its decision to keep the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
