Glimmer of Progress in Easing U.S.-China Trade Tensions?

The Bay Area Council has long advocated for deepening and expanding our economic relationship with China, one of California’s largest and most important trading partners and one of the world’s largest consumer marketplaces. So, we were encouraged by an announcement from President Trump today (June 11) that top U.S. and Chinese representatives meeting in London had tentatively agreed on a general framework for a deal that could help de-escalate tensions between the two sides and lead to additional negotiations on a wide range of trade issues.

Speaking at a major California-China business forum in Los Angeles just last week, Council CEO Jim Wunderman called for a restoration of ties, telling an audience of California and Chinese business and government leaders: “It’s great to have over 150 Chinese government officials and business leaders come to California to show their interest in growing business opportunities. China has so much to offer America, and America has so much to offer China. Doing things together is just a lot better.”

While there were few details about the deal President Trump announced, we remain cautiously optimistic that the sides will continue productive talks. And we remain undeterred in our work to foster stronger ties. For more than 15 years, the Council through our offices in Shanghai and Beijing has worked to grow subnational economic ties between the Bay Area, California and various partners in China in areas such as technology, education, healthcare and clean energy.