Washington (Reuters) – Beijing plans to respond to the concerns of the Trump administration concerning the role of China in the fentanyl trade, potentially offering a ramp outside hostilities to allow commercial discussions to start, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The document cited anonymous people familiar with the issue as indicating that the Chinese public security minister Wang Xiaohong had asked in recent days on what the Trump team wants China to do with the chemical ingredients used to manufacture the powerful fentany.
The report indicates that part of Beijing's thought consisted in sending Wang to the United States to meet senior officials from the administration of President Donald Trump, or to make him meet US officials in a third country.
He cited sources as warning that discussions have remained fluid and that Beijing would like to see a relaxation of Trump's trade offensive against China.
The White House and the Chinese Washington Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The report came after the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that it was asking a Washington offer to talk to the tariffs of 145% of Trump on China, although it has warned the United States not to engage in “extortion and coercion”.
Trump linked the American trade war with China, which disrupted the world markets and upset the supply chains, the fentanyl crisis killing a large number of Americans.
Washington says that Chinese chemical manufacturers and exporters provide most of the pioneering chemicals used by drug cartels to produce synthetic opioids, the cause of nearly 450,000 American overdose deaths. China has long defended its difficult drug laws and its traces of reprimand on smugglers, and says that the United States must master its own dependence problems.
Trump said on Wednesday that he thought there was a “very good chances” that his administration could conclude an agreement with China, a few hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping called on managers to adapt to changes in the international environment, without explicitly mentioning the United States.
Sources told Reuters last month that the Trump administration had engaged in direct talks with Chinese counterparts, mainly between the best employees of the Chinese embassy in Washington and the US National Security Council.
However, the sources said that the talks had not given results and that the American negotiators accused the Chinese of not having negotiated in good faith.
On Friday, the Trump administration ended the American access to the franchise of rights for the low value shipments of China and Hong Kong, removing the “minimis” exemptions used by Shein, TEMU and other electronic commercial companies, as well as by fentanyl traffickers and other illicit products.
(Report by David Brunnstrom to Washington and Angela Christy in Bengaluru; edition of Franklin Paul and Rod Nickel)
