Source: CGTN
Speaking on CGTN, Carnegie’s Douglas H. Paal explained that the upcoming U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue will be a meeting characterized by many contrasts. He began by saying that the headline of the upcoming meeting will likely be that “there are no headlines.” The Trump administration has come to appreciate the interdependence between the U.S. and Chinese economies, thus reducing the risk that they will unilaterally initiate a trade war.
Short term gains from the meeting will likely be small, Paal said. In the medium- to long-term, the best that can be hoped for is an opening of the Chinese market to exports of U.S. services. Presently, Chinese policies exclude most foreign services, he added.
Paal went on to explain that he supports a multilateral approach to trade issue. Furthermore, he thinks the current focus on bilateral issues, while counterproductive, is a natural result of “years and years of cheap politics” in the United States.