US, China mull ‘board of trade’ to manage bilateral economy ties

It would serve as a way to formalise the kinds of things the US should be importing from and exporting to China. Read more at straitstimes.com.

PARIS - The US and China are considering a new mechanism that could potentially oversee economic ties and manage bilateral concerns between the two geoeconomic competitors.

“We talked about potentially having even a mechanism with the US and China, almost like what we might call a US-China Board of Trade,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in Paris on March 16. He said it would serve as a way to formalise the kinds of things the US should be importing from and exporting to China.

He spoke at the conclusion of a day and a half of meetings between US and Chinese economic officials that were planned to lay the ground for a Beijing summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Mr Li Chenggang, China’s vice-minister for commerce, said earlier on March 16 that that two sides discussed the idea of establishing a working group that would examine promoting cooperation mechanisms for bilateral trade and investment. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, briefing reporters along with Mr Greer, said another feature of the talks was a very detailed discussion about the tariff regime that the Trump administration intends to implement.

“They were constructive and they show the stability of the relationship,” Mr Bessent told journalists.