(Bloomberg) -- China signaled a lack of interest in resuming trade talks with the U.S. under the current threat to escalate tariffs, while the government said stimulus will be stepped up to buttress the domestic economy.
Without new moves that show the U.S. is sincere it is meaningless for its officials to come to China and have trade talks, according to a commentary by the blog Taoran Notes, which was carried by state-run Xinhua News Agency and the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece.
The National Development and Reform Commission is studying the impact of U.S. tariffs and will ensure growth is kept in a “reasonable range,” spokeswoman Meng Wei said at briefing in Beijing Friday.
The U.S. has been talking about wanting to continue the negotiations, but in the meantime it has been playing “little tricks to disrupt the atmosphere,” according to the commentary on Thursday night, citing Trumps steps this week to curb Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co.
“We can’t see the U.S. has any substantial sincerity in pushing forward the talks. Rather, it is expanding extreme pressure,” the blog wrote. “If the U.S. ignores the will of the Chinese people, then it probably won’t get an effective response from the Chinese side,” it added.
The Shanghai Composite Index was 1.5% lower at the mid-day break, putting it on course for a fourth week of losses, the worst streak in 10 months. The offshore yuan weakened 0.2% to 6.9390 per dollar.
The blog reiterated tariff removal, achievable purchase plans and a balanced agreement text as China’s three main concerns, which were first revealed by Vice Premier Liu He. They mark the official stance as much as the will of the Chinese public, it wrote.
“In addition, if anyone thinks the Chinese side is just bluffing, that will be the most significant misjudgment since” the Korean War, it said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week that American officials “most likely will go to Beijing at some point” in near future to continue trade talks, before later saying he has “no plans yet to go to China.”
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger
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