Start trade talks soon, urges former US commerce chief

Top leaders of China and the United States should start direct dialogue on bilateral trade relations as soon as possible to avoid frictions that could lead to a trade war, former US secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez said on Friday.

Gutierrez, who served under former US president George W. Bush, said the two countries should finish talks on a bilateral investment treaty, which has been stalled due to the change of US administrations.

"The BIT is the beginning and it is the foundation for a free trade agreement (between the US and China). We should get started now, and the best first step is to finish the bilateral investment treaty," Gutierrez told China Daily on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia.

The trade relations between China and the US have faced uncertainty due in part to concerns about what policies President Donald Trump will pursue after his tough rhetoric during the election campaign.

Gutierrez said he expected a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Trump to take place soon, so that the two countries can start discussions on bilateral trade and investment issues.

The former US commerce secretary acknowledged the positive role of China's Belt and Road Initiative in promoting global trade and growth for the economies participating in the initiative. He said he did not see why the initiative should conflict with any US interests.

Gutierrez added that the US eventually needs to work with China under the framework of multilateral organizations such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

He also voiced support for globalization and agreed it remains one of the solutions to generate common benefits and spur global economic growth.

"Globalization remains the megatrend, and it will continue to be supported by technology," he said, adding that governments should focus on improving education and tax and regulatory reforms to foster new businesses, and should generate new jobs instead of bashing globalization.

Despite the uncertainties in the Trump administration's trade policy toward China, experts and analysts expressed optimism about the prospects for trade relations between the two countries.

"I am optimistic that the US policy may not be as adverse as the rhetoric," said Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC.

Zhao Kejin, deputy director of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, said governments should take measures to deal with the cost of free trade, including raising the compensation for workers who lose their jobs in the process and implementing reforms to expand employment at home.

Video recording and editing by Huang Zeyuan