US officials will soon resume face-to-face
trade talks in China, a White House official said Friday, reviving
negotiations that had verged on collapse in May.
President Donald Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping agreed to "fully
engage" on trade when they met in Osaka at the end of June, and since
then trade officials have spoken by phone, White House trade advisor
Peter Navarro said on CNBC.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin will go to Beijing "in the very near future and we're going to
have constructive talks to deal with these significant structural
issues," Navarro said.
The trade dispute has roiled global financial markets and undermined
business confidence as Washington and Beijing have lashed out at each
other with punitive tariffs on about $360 billion in goods.
The sides appeared to be close to a deal as recently as April but Trump
accused China of reneging on its commitments, scuttling the talks until
the leaders met on the sidelines on Group of 20 summit in Osaka, where
Navarro said they made a "strong commitment" to restart negotiations.
Trump at that meeting agreed to hold off on his threat to hit China with
another round of steep tariffs that would cover nearly all the goods
exported to the US market.
In another Twitter outburst Friday, Trump called tariffs "a great negotiating tool" and "a great revenue producer."
And he again accused China of weakening its currency to compensate for the 25 percent tariff.
Lighthizer and Mnuchin spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and
Commerce Minister Zhong Shan by phone on Tuesday, but officials have not
provided any details on the status or the topics discussed other than
to say they were constructive.
"We are, in my judgment, in a quiet period for the negotiations. My
advice for investors is to be patient with this process," Navarro said.
"Don't believe anything you read in either the Chinese or the US press
about these negotiations unless it comes from the mouths of either the
President or Ambassador Lighthizer."
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