During the forthcoming meeting with Donald Trump in Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to present the US president with a spate of terms that Washington should meet in order to resolve the bilateral trade dispute, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper quoted unnamed Chinese sources as saying that the preconditions specifically include Washington removing its ban on the sale of US technologies to Chinese tech giant Huawei.
In addition, the sources claimed, the US should rescind duties on Chinese goods and abandon attempts to force Beijing to buy more American products than it promised at a meeting of the two leaders in December 2018.
This comes as Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng urged the US to “cancel immediately sanctions on Chinese companies including Huawei to push for the healthy and stable development in Sino-US ties”.
He made the statement when asked by reporters whether Beijing and Washington would reach a deal on measures facing Huawei and other Chinese tech firms.
Gao added that during a phone call to Trump last week, Xi expressed hope that the US would fairly treat Chinese firms.
Trump, for his part, warned earlier this month that if Washington and Beijing fail to agree on a trade deal, the US will introduce fresh levies targeting $325 billion worth of Chinese products.
At the same time, Trump noted that he has a “feeling” that Washington will secure a much-awaited trade agreement with Beijing at the G20 summit in Japan.
Since 2018, the US and China have been trying to tackle bilateral trade disagreements that emerged in the wake of Trump’s decision last June to impose 25 per cent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods in a bid to address the trade deficit. Since then, the two sides have exchanged several rounds of duties.
The US escalated the dispute in May when it included another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods in the 25 per cent tariff category. China pledged to retaliate by hiking tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports in June.
May also saw the row between the US and China over Huawei, with Trump issuing an executive order blacklisting the company and its 70 affiliates, thereby banning American firms from selling components to the Chinese tech giant without a government license.
The US attempted to justify its actions by claiming that Huawei was working with the Chinese government and spying on its users at Beijing's behest – allegations that both Huawei and Beijing vehemently reject.
