New round of US-China trade talks to kickstart on Tuesday

A new round of trade talks between the US and China will begin on Tuesday following those that were held in Beijing last week, the White House said.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Monday night that President Donald Trump had announced that the US will welcome a delegation from China, reports Efe news.

Preparatory meetings will be held on Tuesday with Deputy Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish leading the US delegation.

High-level meetings will begin on Thursday with the US delegation led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Trump's economic policy adviser Larry Kudlow and his trade adviser Peter Navarro will also be present at the meetings.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Commerce Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Vice Premier Liu He will arrive in Washington for the talks and will meet both Lighthizer and Mnuchin.

Liu led the Chinese delegation to Washington last month and had also met Trump, although it is unknown if they will meet again this time.

On February 16, Trump met the American negotiating team on their return from Beijing and said the talks had gone well.

After the conclusion of the third round of negotiations between the two sides on February 14 in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that "important progress" had been made during the talks, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump and Xi agreed on a 90-day commercial truce on December 1 to negotiate an end to the ongoing trade war that has affected financial markets across the world and shaken the global growth outlook.

However, if the countries fail to reach an agreement by the March 1 deadline, Trump has said he will go ahead with his plan to increase tariffs on Chinese imports worth $200 billion from the current 10 per cent to 25 per cent, which he had temporarily suspended after the truce.

Trump has also said it would be an "honour" to remove the tariffs on China if an agreement is reached.

Since the truce, China has made several goodwill gestures such as lowering tariffs on vehicles imported from the US, and resuming the purchase of soy from the country and also submitting a bill to ban the forced transfer of technology.

--IANS

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