U.S.-China Trade Talks End With Strong Demands, but Few Signs of a Deal

Here are the highlights of the demands:

China must …

■ Cut its trade surplus by $100 billion in the 12 months starting in June, and by another $100 billion in the following 12 months.

■ Halt all subsidies to advanced manufacturing industries in its so-called Made In China 2025 program. The program covers 10 sectors, including aircraft manufacturing, electric cars, robotics, computer microchips and artificial intelligence.

■ Accept that the United States may restrict imports from the industries under Made in China 2025.

■ Take “immediate, verifiable steps” to halt cyberespionage into commercial networks in the United States.

■ Strengthen intellectual property protections.

■ Accept United States restrictions on Chinese investments in sensitive technologies without retaliating.

■ Cut its tariffs, which currently average 10 percent, to the same level as in the United States, where they average 3.5 percent for all “noncritical sectors.”

■ Open up its services and agricultural sectors to full American competition.

The United States also stipulated that the two sides should meet every quarter to review progress.

Chinese officials put the talks in a positive light. “The two sides agreed that a sound and stable China-U.S. trade relationship is crucial for both, and they are committed to resolving relevant economic and trade issues through dialogue and consultation,” Xinhua, the official news agency, said soon after the talks ended.

But the negotiations also highlighted key differences — and the American delegation’s tight-lipped departure from Diaoyutai, the parklike enclosure of guesthouses where the talks were held, suggested that the two sides had made little headway in solving them.

Before the trade talks began, people involved in China’s policymaking said, Beijing was willing to act on some concessions previously laid out by President Xi Jinping. Among the most notable was a willingness to make it slightly easier for foreign automakers and financial services companies to compete in China.

But China has its own demands. Beijing wants the United States to relax restrictions on exports of high-tech commercial products that may have military applications. During the trade talks here this week, Chinese officials also took issue with the penalties that American officials imposed last month on ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications company, for repeatedly violating United States sanctions on Iran.

The Commerce Department banned all shipments of American wares to ZTE, including chips and other equipment that are essential to many of the company’s products. The move appears to have strengthened China’s resolve to continue its drive for self-sufficiency and to curb imports in various high-tech fields.

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