Reuters reports another round of trade talks between senior U.S. and Chinese officials are to begin next week in Beijing with a goal of a deal to protect American intellectual property and avert a March 2 increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, two people familiar with the plans said Tuesday.
The U.S. delegation, the report said, leaves the US and arrives in Beijing over the weekend, following the Chinese New Year break this week.
Quoting Dow Jones, a Reuters report said the talks will be led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Lighthizer had said after concluding a round of U.S.-China talks last week both he and Mnuchin would be leading a team to Beijing early this month for more negotiations, but the timing was uncertain, the report said.
A USTR spokeswoman declined comment on any plans for talks Reuters reported. A Treasury Department spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
Dow Jones also reported China has agreed to widen the trade discussions to include cyber hacking, the wire service reported. In addition, President Donald Trump reportedly had not yet decided whether to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the trade dispute.
The talks focus has been on addressing U.S. demands for deep structural changes to China’s economic and trade policies, including new protections for U.S. intellectual property, ending forced technology transfers, reining in China’s subsidies for state industries and increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. farm, energy and manufactured products, the report said.
In the past, Trump has said if there were progress in the talks, he would be willing to meet with Xi to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal, Reuters reported.
Trump has vowed to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent currently if the two sides cannot reach a deal by 12:01 a.m. (0501 GMT) on March 2, the report said.
– WN.com, Jack Durschlag