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US-China trade war
China

Trump turns up the heat on Beijing with probe into China’s compliance with 2020 trade deal

The move could pave the way for new tariffs as US president readies for talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping

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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Ministers’ Meeting on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Reuters
Mark Magnierin Washington
In a move that piles up further US leverage in advance of next week’s planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the US trade representative announced an investigation on Friday into Beijing’s compliance with the Phase One Trade Agreement.

The latest tit-for-tat salvo comes as the two economic giants amass threats that, if carried through, could cripple the global economy.

“The initiation of this investigation underscores the Trump administration’s resolve to hold China to its Phase One agreement commitments, protect American farmers, ranchers, workers and innovators, and establish a more reciprocal trade relationship with China for the benefit of the American people,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday in a statement.
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USTR added that the agency plans to consider whether China has fully implemented its commitments under the 2020 agreement, what “burden or restriction” China’s actions imposed on US companies and “what action, if any, should be taken in response”.

The investigation comes as Trump and Xi plan to sit down next Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea as the world watches to see who blinks first.

06:31

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