An American senator said that China should stop the fentanyl ingredient flow in the United States before any commercial negotiations, a demand that obs the prospect of talks of imminent leaders to mitigate tensions between the two largest economies in the world.
Steve Daines, a close ally of President Donald Trump, established the condition of meetings with Chinese officials in Beijing during the weekend. The republican legislator said he hoped that a management meeting would take place before the end of the year, although Trump previously said that this would happen soon.
“It will be difficult to have a conversation on prices and non -pricing barriers until the problem of the precursor of fentanyl is solved,” said Daines in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News on Sunday.
The senator of Montana, who was intermediary of Trump during his first trade war with China, met Chinese leaders, including Prime Minister Li Qiang during the weekend. He did not meet President Xi Jinping, who, in 2023, sat with the head of the majority of the time, Chuck Schumer, who led a bipartite delegation to Beijing, and the governor of California Gavin Newsom a few times.
While he called his conversation with constructive Li, Daines highlighted a request that Beijing could have trouble fulfilling a few days before new American commercial actions.
“I clearly indicated that President Trump had to see China taking decisive measures to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors, not to slow down the flow but to stop the flow,” said Daines.
This contrasts with the affirmation of China that she has already repressed the fentanyl trade forcefully. Beijing said earlier that he had done everything he could for the United States and Washington should have said a “big thank you” instead of slap the samples on Chinese imports.
“The calendar works against a meeting,” said Dexter Roberts, a non -resident principal researcher to the Global China Hub and an instructor of the Atlantic Council in Chinese politics at the University of Montana. “While the prices are strengthened on both sides, the probability of a Xi-Trump meeting is only fading.”
The leaders of the Communist Party met Daines and the CEOs in the world a few days before a deadline of April 1 for an American review of Beijing commercial compliance and Trump plans to impose reciprocal tasks in the world the next day.
China is likely to retaliate against any new trade border in the United States, as it did after Trump has imposed a new 10% price on Chinese products in February and added an additional 10% in March. China struck With samples from a multitude of American agricultural products and imports of soybeans suspended from three American entities.
XI visit
The American president has repeatedly pointed out a desire to meet XI, adage Last week, the Chinese chief will visit Washington in the “not too far future”, although Beijing replied by saying that he had “no information” to share.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later cast From cold water to the idea of an imminent X-Trump meeting, saying that it would require a reason and none was planned.
“There is a desire on both sides to have a high -level meeting. There is simply no date yet,” said Daines.
Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that Daines’s visit is a positive step for bilateral links even if a Xi-Trump sitdown is not on the horizon.
“What is urgent is that the two parties should start to speak and negotiate in the next week or two, so that we can avoid a new climbing of tensions in early April,” the summit will be the result of the process. “
Chinese officials said the United States had not described detailed measures that should remedy its role in the illegal fentanyl trade, which Trump quoted as a reason for prices. Trump’s team rejected this statement, saying that they expect the popular daily life to manage a first -page article condemning the fentanyl and Beijing trade puts the death penalty to smugglers.
CEO
Li declared during his meeting with Daines on Sunday that no development and prosperity of the country could be carried out by imposing prices, but that by opening and cooperation, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Li reiterated that there is no winner in a trade war and said that he hoped that the United States and China could communicate frankly, strengthen trust and deepen practical cooperation.
Daines, who worked in China and Hong Kong in the 1990s as a procter & Gamble Co., was joined at his meeting with the Chinese No. 2 by the main American leaders visiting Beijing for the Chinese annual development forum. They understood the CEO of Fedex Corp., Raj Subramaniam and the vice-president director of Boeing Co., Brendan Nelson, as well as the senior officials of Cargill Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Qualcomm Inc.
Chinese Deputy Prime Minister, He Lifeng, met with Multinational Societies, notably Apple Inc., Brookfield Corp, Medtronic PLC, Mastercard Inc., Eli Lilly & Co and Corning Inc. on Sunday.statement. The Chinese official said that his country is hosting the company to extend investments and has promised to improve the commercial environment.
In addition to fentanyl, Daines said that he had also raised the issue of expiration Export licenses For us, beef producers who require renewal.
Daines also said that he would like to organize a bipartite delegation of American senators in China later this year after David Lost was confirmed as the country’s ambassador. Lost worked in the past in Singapore and Hong Kong, helping US companies to source cheap work in Asian countries before moving on to politics.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
