Chinese Ambassador Appeals to ‘Better Angels’ in Ongoing U.S.-China Trade Row

As the prospect of an additional $257 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods looms, China’s ambassador to the U.S. said the countries should look to their “better angels” to guide them toward a resolution of their trade dispute, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
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During a visit to the National Press Club on Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai cited President Abraham Lincoln’s famous words, as the event included a screening of the film “Better Angels.”
“It has made great strides, while also has had its share of setbacks,” said Cui, as quoted by Xinhua, of U.S.-China relations. “But every time it risked being stranded, every time its future was cast into doubt, the people of our two countries would be there, quietly but persistently, doing their part, lifting it out of the quagmire, and moving it forward.”
The ambassador’s comments came after Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the Trump administration was preparing to impose an additional round of tariffs on Chinese goods worth $257 billion — in addition to the $250 billion in tariffs already imposed this year — if talks to resolve the conflict fail.
President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping are scheduled to attend the Nov. 30 G20 summit in Buenos Aires.
In September, the U.S. imposed $200 billion in tariffs on a wide range of Chinese products, adding to the total $50 billion in tariffs that had already been imposed earlier in the year.
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In 2017, the value of U.S. imports of Chinese goods hit just over $505 billion, according to Census Bureau data (the U.S. had a deficit in goods trade with China of over $375 billion last year).