Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, on April 4, 2024.Photo: Tingshu Wang/Reuters
GUANGZHOU, China (AP) – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in China Thursday for five days of talks determined to avoid open conflict with the United States, but the world's two largest economies remain It appears that the United States is rushing to develop rules to avoid open conflict with the United States. to compete with each other.
While the U.S. government has stepped up its own support for electric vehicle and solar panel manufacturing, tensions are rising over the Chinese government's support for manufacturing electric vehicles and solar panels. Differences include trade, ownership of TikTok, access to computer chips and national security, all of which pose risks to the carefully managed relationship.
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Yellen, 77, a prominent economist and former Federal Reserve chair, briefed reporters on the issues she plans to raise with her Chinese counterpart during her five-day visit. Yellen will begin her tour in Guangzhou before moving to Beijing to meet with financial leaders and state officials. Her involvement includes Vice Premier He Lifeng, China's central bank governor Pan Gongsheng, former vice prime minister Liu He, leaders of U.S. companies doing business in China, university students, and local leaders.
Yellen told reporters Wednesday during a refueling stop in Alaska on her way to Asia that the visit was the first time U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in 2022. “This will be a continuation of the dialogue that we have deepened.'' In Indonesia. He said this was his third meeting with China's vice prime minister.
Yellen has recently criticized China for flooding global markets with heavily subsidized green energy products, and the US for funding its own renewable energy and EV sectors with funds provided by Democrats' Inflation Control Act. It criticized the possibility that it could damage the subsidies that are currently available. He said he would reiterate concerns that Chinese authorities are flooding the global market with cheap solar panels and electric cars, hindering other countries' development in these areas.
“We need a level playing field,” Yellen told reporters. “We are concerned that large investments in China across a range of industries are leading to overcapacity.”
Yellen did not rule out the possibility of additional measures to counter Chinese subsidies in the green energy sector, saying, “Not only the United States, but a significant number of countries, including Mexico, Europe, and Japan, are feeling the pressure from large investments.'' “I have,” he added. In these industries in China. ”
The Treasury secretary's visit comes after Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi held their first telephone conversation in five months on Tuesday, aimed at marking a return to regular leader-to-leader dialogue between the two countries. The leaders discussed Taiwan, artificial intelligence, and security issues.
clock: Treasury Secretary Yellen talks about U.S.-China economic competition and cooperation
The meeting, described by the White House as “candid and constructive,” was the first summit since November in California, renewing ties between the two countries' militaries, and reinforcing the deadly drug fentanyl and its precursors. Cooperation has been strengthened to prevent the influx. From China.
Still, it seems difficult for the two countries to balance competition and hostility.
For example, Mr. Xi invited American CEOs to Beijing last week to appeal to them about investing in China. Meanwhile, in August last year, Biden issued an executive order directing an interagency committee chaired by Yellen to closely monitor U.S. investment in China related to high-tech manufacturing.
Jude Blanchett, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “While the Biden administration's efforts over the past year to stabilize relations have clearly worked, all major points of friction remain unresolved. “It remains resolved, and challenges will probably remain in Japan-China relations.” foreseeable future. ”
“Given the potentially devastating consequences if the relationship actually goes off track, a 'managed rivalry' may be the best we can hope for for the time being,” he said.
Yellen said last week that China is flooding the market with green energy that is “distorting global prices” and that Beijing's increased production of solar energy, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries poses risks to productivity and global economic growth. He said that he plans to inform the other countries that he is contributing to the situation. .
China began expanding its presence in the global economy more than 20 years ago, exporting cheap goods that appealed to American consumers at the expense of jobs in factories in many American consumers' hometowns. . Research by economists David Orter, David Dorn, Gordon Hanson and others into the phenomenon known as the “China Shock” has shown that it led to the steady collapse of many factory cities and, in some cases, to growing political discontent. Ta.
Still, some experts see advantages in an economic showdown to produce greener products.
Xiang Jing Wei, a China business professor at Columbia University, said the subsidy war could ultimately help consumers in both countries buy more climate-friendly products, which is a goal of the Biden administration. It states that there is.
“In contrast, tariffs on US EV imports could increase EV prices in the US, which would be counterproductive to the goal of inducing a green transition.”
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Yellen's visit to China will take place from April 4th to 9th. It was intended as a follow-up to Yellen's trip to China last July, which resulted in the creation of two economic working groups between the two countries' finance departments aimed at easing tensions and strengthening ties. .
However, this visit comes in an election year, and both Democrats and Republicans have stepped up their tough rhetoric against China. They criticize the Chinese ownership of the popular social media app TikTok, China's censorship and human rights record, and are deeply distrustful of recent spying practices. Things like hacking and using spy balloons.
“This is an election year, so all the rhetoric will be sharper, but the U.S. and China have a symbiotic trade relationship and the final In fact,” he said. We need each other. ”
China is one of the United States' largest trading partners, and economic competition between the two countries has intensified in recent years. Yellen stressed on Wednesday that the United States has no interest in decoupling with China.
China's support for Russia's continued invasion of neighboring Ukraine is another issue that will come up in the talks. Trade between China and Russia has increased as the United States and its allies impose sanctions on Russian officials and across sectors of the Russian economy, including banks, oil production and manufacturing.
Associated Press reporters Josh Bork in Washington and Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.
