Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that China and the US should maintain negotiations and he reiterated pledges to ease access for American businesses, as China scrambles to avert a trade war. Li said at a conference that included global CEs that China would treat foreign and domestic firms equally, would not force foreign firms to transfer technology and would strengthen intellectual property rights, repeating promises that have failed to placate the US. The US asked China in a letter last week to cut a tariff on US vehicles, buy more US-made semiconductors and give US firms greater access to the Chinese financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources. Alarm about a possible trade war between the world’s two largest economies has chilled financial markets as investors expected dire consequences should trade barriers go up due to President Donald Trump’s bid to cut the US deficit with China. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Repr...
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