China’s commerce minister said to Chinese companies splurging in the U.S. to be given “equal treatment” and called U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports “discriminatory”, whilst he encountered U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo this week, his ministry said on Thursday. Completing her tour of four days to Beijing on Tuesday, Raimondo said she had no anticipation regarding any breakthroughs but was “stepping out of the place with some positivity,” after communicating with top Chinese governers, involving with commerce minister Wang Wentao.
The world’s two hugest economies used to be each other’s hugest trade partners, and whilst both governments openly play against decoupling, China is currently trading more with Southeast Asia and the U.S. with adjacent Canada and Mexico. A tariff war happened between Beijing and Washington under the last Trump administration. Since then, U.S. President Joe Biden and some U.S. allies have stopped exports to China of improvised versions of semiconductors and the equipment to make them, understanding safety concerns.