Washington “will not accept” the flood of Chinese products sold at a loss on the world market, as has already happened in the past, said American Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday, traveling to China.
China’s production “overcapacity” was at the heart of M’s shiftme Yellen, her second in less than a year in the Asian country.
The minister arrived in Canton, in the South, on Thursday and is due to leave Beijing on Tuesday morning.
Citing the example of steel, more than ten years ago, whose Chinese influx “decimated industries across the world and in the United States,” Mr.me Yellen told reporters: “I made this clear to President Biden and I will not accept this reality again. »
“I know these serious concerns are shared with our allies and partners,” she added.
The United States fears that the Chinese government’s massive subsidies in technologies – green energy, electric vehicles and even batteries – will lead to a tidal wave of low-cost products around the world that would endanger foreign competitors in these sectors.
The subject was discussed at length during discussions between Mr.me Yellen and Vice Premier He Lifeng: These lasted about 11 hours over two days.
Janet Yellen was also received by Prime Minister Li Qiang and both showed their desire to strengthen dialogue, despite the differences between the world’s two leading economic powers.
She said she was particularly concerned about “imbalances” in the Chinese economy, including low household consumption and overinvestment, “worsened by large-scale government support in certain industrial sectors.”
” Unfounded “
Beijing has so far brushed aside concerns about its strong support for its industries.
“Accusations of “overcapacity” by the United States and Europe are unfounded,” Minister Wang Wentao declared on Sunday, traveling to Paris, according to the state agency New China.
This visit marks a new stage in the stabilization of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have resumed their cooperation on climate change, debt restructuring and the fight against money laundering.
“I do not want to see the economic relationship or in general of the United States with China deteriorate and crumble,” she assured journalists, saying she was convinced that Beijing is of the same opinion.
The two countries agreed to continue discussions on excess production capacity.
Premier Li Qiang told his American interlocutor that Washington must look at the subject of the country’s production capacity “objectively”, because the Chinese new energy sector will, according to him, contribute “importantly to the global transition towards ecology”. and low carbon emissions.
Janet Yellen also said she had “difficult conversations about national security,” warning Chinese officials about the consequences of potential military support for Russia and resorting to economic measures in the name of security. national.
The United States itself has blacklisted Chinese companies in recent years to cut them off from US technology supply chains and has tightened semiconductor export restrictions on China, citing national security. .
TikTok mentioned
“Every country has a legitimate need to safeguard its national security,” Liao Min, Chinese Vice Minister of Finance, told the press, according to a report from his services published Monday evening.
“But we should not have too broad a definition of “national security” and use so-called “diversification” as an excuse, because this affects normal trade and investment between the two countries, the stability of the global production as well as supply chains,” he stressed.
Liao Min thus underlined that Beijing had expressed its “deep concern” to Janet Yellen over the American restrictions.
For her part, the American minister assured Monday that the United States will not take “surprise” economic measures in terms of national security.
But “we would appreciate transparency from China about its national security actions and more clarity on how it demarcates what is national security and what is economic.”
The Treasury Secretary also spoke “briefly” about the subject of TikTok, describing Washington’s fears regarding the protection of sensitive personal data as legitimate.
The United States is threatening to ban the popular social network, whose parent company, ByteDance, is Chinese, if it does not change ownership.