MNI POLICY: China V. Premier Liu to Sign Phase-1 in Washington

By Wanxia Lin

     BEIJING (MNI) - Vice Premier Liu He, China's lead negotiator in trade talks

with the U.S., will visit Washington Jan 13-15 to sign the 'phase one' deal,

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said Thursday. 

     - China will "to the extent necessary" use its grain import quotas of

wheat, corn and rice under its WTO obligation, in accordance with market

conditions, said Gao, when asked if China will reduce imports from other

countries or raise quotas to meet U.S. demand to boost agricultural purchases.

"This doesn't contradict with expanding imports of U.S. agricultural goods,"

said Gao. 

     - Gao implied that imports of rice, wheat and corn (though not their

by-products) may still be subject to quota limits and China won't forgo cheaper

sources for the sake of meeting U.S. demand. 

     - China's annual quotas are 9.64 million metric tons wheat, 7.2 million

tons for corn and 5.32 million tons for rice. In reality, China each year only

allows less than half of these quotas to be used, a point that the U.S. had

previously railed against in a WTO dispute.

     - The U.S. should amend its position over the use of export controls citing

national security, helping create favourable trade conditions, Gao said when

asked to comment on U.S. restrictions on AI software exports. 

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

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