Trump has shown compromise with Beijing is possible but Britain has to dance between US, EU and Chinese demandsLast week, Donald Trump and Liu He, the Chinese vice-premier, signed phase one of a new trade arrangement between the US and China. The talks surrounding the agreement have been tortuous, leading to fears that the world could be caught up in a trade conflict between these two economic giants. The signing showed there is space for compromise as well as confrontation in dealing with China, but the negotiations illustrate the difficulties of dealing with a US that has embraced economic nationalism and a China whose markets are still restricted in many important areas.Nonetheless, as Britain prepares to leave the EU, there has been a resurgence of interest in the possibility of a major UK trade deal with Beijing. Just days after the 2016 referendum, the incoming Brexit secretary, David Davis, declared that `trade deals with the US and China alone will give us a trade area almost twice the size of the EU`.A deal in exchange for pressure on politicians to avoid discussion of issues like Hong Kong would be too high a price for the UK Related: Johnson will defy US and allow use of Huawei, says top security adviser Continue reading...
|