US delegation to visit China for trade talks

A US delegation will visit China next week to participate in vice-ministerial level trade talks that have been ongoing since early 2018, it was announced here on Friday.

The delegation, led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, will be here from January 7 to 8 to hold talks with China's working group based on the agreement reached between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump in December, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement cited by Efe news.

In a December 1 meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Xi and Trump agreed on a 90-day truce to negotiate their differences in the ongoing trade dispute.

The upcoming meeting was confirmed by the two sides over at least two vice-ministerial level phone calls as well as one between Xi and Trump on December 29.

The Commerce Ministry last week said that Beijing was preparing to work with Washington to implement the broad consensus reached, referring to the agreement reached in Argentina between Xi and Trump.

On January 1, China and the US congratulated each other on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Since the Xi-Trump meeting, China has adopted several goodwill measures including cutting tariffs on vehicles imported from the US, resuming the purchase of soya beans from the country and submitting a draft law to prohibit forced technology transfers.

Trump temporarily suspended the planned increase in tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on Chinese goods worth $200 billion with a warning he would go ahead with the plan if a trade agreement was not sealed before the 90-day deadline.

Trade negotiations could still be affected due to the diplomatic row following the arrest of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the request of the US for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran.

--IANS

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