BEIJING – Days after it accused Washington of scuttling trade talks, Beijing has released yet another government paper on the US-China trade war – this time pointing out how the United States has reaped rich benefits from bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
The 11-page research report by China’s Commerce Ministry (Mofcom) pointed out that the trade imbalance between both countries was overstated, noting that the US has also benefited richly from bilateral trade.
The report is a riposte to US claims that China is taking advantage of it in bilateral trade, with President Donald Trump tweeting recently that the trade imbalance amounted to US$500 billion (S$683 billion).
This claim was “not in line with facts”, said the report, pointing out that in trade in goods with China, the US ran a deficit of US$419.2 billion last year. In trade in services, it ran a surplus of US$40.5 billion.
Mofcom spokesman Gao Feng said at a regular press briefing on Thursday (June 6) that the current US administration has “repeatedly publicised the argument that the US is losing out to China over trade”.
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