US, China resume trade talks in Washington ahead of deadline

Global Business

From left, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Chinese Vice Premier and lead trade negotiator Liu He, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talk before the opening session of trade negotiations at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

The United States and China resume talks Tuesday aimed at ending a fight over Beijing’s technology ambitions ahead of a deadline for a massive U.S. tariff hike.

The White House said that meetings between mid-level delegations will begin in Washington following talks last week in Beijing that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said “made headway” on key issues.

On Thursday, Lighthizer will lead higher level talks, joined by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and trade adviser Peter Navarro.

Leading the Chinese team will be Vice Premier Liu He, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Business groups and economists saw Friday’s surprise announcement of further talks this week as a sign that the two counties were making progress.

Both governments have expressed optimism, but they have given no details of their talks. Economists say the time available for negotiations is too brief to resolve an array of irritants in U.S.-Chinese relations. They say Beijing’s goal is to persuade President Donald Trump they are making enough progress to push back threatened U.S. penalties.

Beijing hopes for “a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement that is acceptable to both sides,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang.

Without an agreement, a 10 percent tariff increase imposed on $200 billion of Chinese goods is due to rise to 25 percent on March 2.

Story by the Associated Press.