US won’t attend major China import fair in Nov.: US embassy spokesman
The United States will not send senior government officials to a major import expo in Shanghai next month, according to a US embassy spokesman.
Thousands of foreign and Chinese firms will attend the China International Import Expo that runs from Nov. 5 to 10.
The expo aims to increase imports, allay foreign concern about China's trade practices and show Beijing’s readiness to narrow trade gaps.
The spokesman, who made the announcement by telephone from the Chinese capital on Wednesday, called on China to end what he described as harmful and unfair trade practices.
"We encourage China to level the playing field for US goods and services," the spokesman said. "China needs to make the necessary reforms to end its unfair trade practices that are harming the world economy."
He, however, refused to give a specific reason why Washington had decided to stay away.
The United Kingdom will send trade minister Liam Fox to the expo and delegations from many other countries, including Australia, Canada, France and Germany, which have been critical of China’s trade practices, are also expected to attend.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who announced the expo in early 2017, is slated to speak at its opening.
This comes as the US and China, the world's two biggest economies, have been locked in an escalating trade war since the Trump administration imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods in the middle of September.
To retaliate, China imposed tariffs on $60 billion worth of American products, dropping Chinese imports of American products by 9 percent last month.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has claimed that China’s rise as an exporting powerhouse has hurt US workers and manufacturing.
The Trump administration contends that China is using predatory industrial practices to challenge American technological dominance.
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