With only eight days left in their trade truce, top US and Chinese officials on Thursday returned to the daunting task of bridging a chasm…
With only eight days left in their trade truce, top US and Chinese officials on Thursday returned to the daunting task of bridging a chasm between the world’s two largest economies.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed the talks with Beijing are going “very well,” but concrete signs of progress have not been apparent in the three months since the two sides agreed to pause their trade war in December.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday the two sides would “go a step further in deepening their communication.” But analysts say the distance separating Washington and Beijing and the short time remaining before the March 1 deadline make it likely the outcome will feature banner announcements but fall short of Trump’s most far-reaching goals. “I think the consensus of people that have been following this thing is that they’re not making nearly as much progress as the president tweets that they’ve been making,” said William Reinsch, a former US trade official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Chinese trade envoy Liu He is leading Beijing’s delegation in the fourth round of negotiations with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other American officials Thursday and Friday as they work to head off an escalation of US tariffs. Trump this week said a March 1 deadline to reach a deal was in fact “not a magical date,” raising hopes that he could delay the plan to more than double US duties on $200 billion in Chinese goods.
