US lawmaker in China says there's 'a lot of work to do' to resolve trade conflict

The head of a US congressional delegation visiting China said Thursday that much needs to be done to resolve the US-China trade conflict, which he said is creating difficulties for companies on both sides of the Pacific. His biggest takeaway was that a lot of business is going on between the two economies despite the trade war, Rep Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington state, said on the final day of a five-day trip.

“We have a lot of work to do to resolve those issues, but China, the US and the world can benefit from resolving some of our differences and working better together,” he told journalists after a meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

The group of three Democrats, Smith and Reps. Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, and Republican Rep Michael Baumgartner could be seen having a coffee at a Starbucks in an office building lobby after they met with the Chamber. The Democrats are all members of the House Armed Services Committee, and Smith repeated his call from the outset of the trip for more communication between the US and Chinese militaries.

“Two of the largest nuclear powers in the world need to be talking to each other, particularly because we do have some disagreements,” he said.

The lawmakers arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday after three days of meetings with Chinese political leaders in Beijing, including Premier Li Qiang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defence Minister Dong Jun.

Smith said the main purpose of the trip was to open up lines of communication between the governments. Theirs was the first by a delegation from the US House of Representatives since 2019. A US Senate delegation visited in 2023.

US President Donald Trump said recently that he would meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional summit in South Korea in late October and visit China in early next year. China has not confirmed the meetings.