U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that she expects to engage “in the near term” with Chinese officials to assess the implementation of the China-U.S. phase one trade deal, and the outcome will affect how the Biden administration deals with punitive tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, Reuters reported. Tai’s statement may mean that the two sides have made arrangements for a meeting – which could be held online – given that the regular six-month review of the pact is due in June, said Gao Lingyun, Trade Expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing. “This sends a signal that the U.S. side wants smooth implementation of the phase one trade deal, just as the Chinese side does,” Gao told the Global Times.

Yu Miaojie, Deputy Dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, told the Global Times that the possible meeting may focus on whether the U.S. will lift punitive tariffs on USD370 billion worth of Chinese products, which were imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, and assess China’s efforts in expanding imports from the U.S., as well as both sides’ efforts in intellectual property protection and technology transfer. Experts noted that the Biden administration would sooner or later remove the additional tariffs imposed by Trump, which has exacted a heavy toll on U.S. businesses and consumers, especially amid the pandemic when China’s manufacturing output stayed strong. The U.S. trade deficit hit a record high in March, with the trade imbalance with China soaring more than 22% from February to USD36.9 billion. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the nature of China-U.S. trade cooperation is win-win and the two countries share wide-ranging common interests and great potential for cooperation. “The two countries should properly solve their trade disputes based on mutual respect and equal negotiations,” he said. Huo Jianguo, former President of the Research Institute of China’s Ministry of Commerce, told the Global Times that the U.S. should gradually remove tariffs on Chinese goods to show its sincerity, adding that, at least, the U.S. should consider lifting tariffs on products that are in short supply in the U.S. market.

The Biden administration is also considering some changes to Trump-era rules banning securities transactions in Chinese companies that the U.S. government suspect of having links to China’s military, following the rise of litigation in the U.S. against the ban.

Meanwhile, China indefinitely suspended all activity under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue. “Recently, some Australian government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of a Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination,” China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a short statement. Australia also said that Chinese firm Landbridge’s 99-year-lease on Darwin Port, the most important port on Australia’s north coast, was under review and could be scrapped on national security grounds.