BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) -- As both Chinese and the U.S. markets hope for a turnaround in the trade consultations, some U.S. officials have inappropriately sent out disappointing signals by sticking to their outdated mentalities.
As the deadlock over the trade negotiations has lasted for over a month, it is a common expectation to see a de-escalation in the trade war.
Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, recently said that "talk is better than no talk." However, once again, Kudlow brought up groundless accusations against China including "intellectual property rights (IPR) theft," "forced technology transfer" and "cyber attacks."
In addition, the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the trade issues should be resolved to preserve "the competitive advantage of the United States."
Such remarks came unexpectedly and will not help resolve any trade issue between the two sides.
By holding the objective of preserving the "competitive advantage" of the United States, some U.S. officials showed no sincerity to conduct equal trade talks with China.
They overlooked the fact that the only way to resolve the trade issues is to accommodate each other's reasonable concerns, instead of focusing only on one's own interests.
Their remarks also fallaciously described China as the reason for the U.S. economic problems. But in fact, it is the U.S. side's tariff hikes that have been increasingly damaging the interests of U.S. enterprises and people.
According to the Washington D.C.-based company Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC., the threatened 25 percent tariff hike on an additional 300 billion dollars of Chinese imports would result in the loss of more than 2 million American jobs.
It is time for the United States to abandon its prejudice against China and stop blaming China for its own problems.
Amid worldwide opposition to the U.S. unilateralism and protectionism, these U.S. officials' outdated mentalities have come to a dead end. The United States should show real sincerity to break the current deadlock.
