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[global times reporter ding yazhi] the wall street journal quoted a u.s. treasury official on the 17th as saying that a group of senior u.s. officials led by jay shambaugh, the u.s. treasury's deputy secretary for international affairs, will travel to beijing on the 19th and 20th to hold talks with chinese officials. not long ago, the biden administration announced a substantial increase in tariffs on chinese imports. experts interviewed by the global times believe that under the premise that the united states uses economic issues as a tool to put pressure on china, sino-u.s. economic cooperation may be difficult to carry out smoothly.

us media said that the planned meeting is the fifth meeting of the china-us economic working group, which was established last year by deputy ministers of the finance ministries of china and the united states. the us members of the working group also include federal reserve officials. the wall street journal reported that shambaugh said in a statement: "we need a flexible channel to discuss a range of economic issues with our chinese counterparts, which involves not only areas of consensus but also areas of disagreement."

it is reported that in the new round of dialogue, the us delegation led by chambeau will seek to strengthen the views put forward by us treasury secretary janet yellen during her visit to china in april this year, and once again hype up the threat of china's "overcapacity". li haidong, a professor at the china foreign affairs university, told the global times on the 17th that the us hype of "china's overcapacity" is actually aimed at manipulating new industrial layouts around the world and trying to suppress china in the process of shaping a new economic form. the objective reality is that china's batteries, solar energy, new energy vehicles, etc. are in great demand around the world, and there is no problem of overcapacity.

file photo: on april 8, 2024, u.s. treasury secretary yellen attended a press conference at the u.s. embassy in china in beijing. (visual china)

chambeau's trip came shortly after the biden administration announced a significant increase in tariffs on chinese imports. according to reuters on the 14th, the office of the united states trade representative said that many of these tariffs will take effect on september 27, including a 100% tariff on chinese electric vehicles, a 50% tariff on solar cells, and a 25% tariff on steel, aluminum, electric vehicle batteries and key minerals.

li haidong believes that tariffs are one of the key issues that affect whether mutually beneficial economic cooperation between china and the united states can proceed smoothly. the united states announced a high-profile increase in tariffs before the meeting, hoping to use this as a handle or tool to continue to put pressure on china, and china will undoubtedly ask the united states not to politicize economic issues, especially tariff issues. li haidong analyzed: "the united states raised tariffs on the one hand to show a tough stance against china and cater to domestic elites, and at the same time to engage in political manipulation and shift the blame for domestic economic and employment problems to china. but in the end, american consumers will pay for it."

reuters said that the biden administration's sharp increase in tariffs on china largely ignored the requests of american automakers to reduce tariffs on graphite and key minerals, which has attracted complaints from the industry. they believe that the tariff increase will disrupt supply chains, including those of semiconductor-intensive products. according to the report, jason oxman, chairman of the u.s. information technology industry council, said in a statement that since its implementation, tariffs on china have cumulatively cost u.s. companies and consumers $221 billion, "now, the office of the u.s. trade representative is once again relying on tariffs, a blunt and ineffective tool."