US, China Agree To Restart Trade Negotiations

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump said Washington and Beijing agreed to restart trade negotiations and the US will not levy new tariffs on Chinese exports during the talks, though experts doubt the world’s two largest economies will resolve their trade war.

“We’re right back on track and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 [G20] major economies in Osaka, Japan.

Trump said his 80-minute meeting with Xi was “excellent, as good as it was going to be.”

China’s foreign ministry confirmed the agreement, saying Washington would not add new tariffs on Chinese exports, and added that negotiators of both countries would discuss specific issues, but gave no details.

In a lengthy statement on the talks, China’s foreign ministry said Xi told Trump he hoped the United States could treat Chinese companies fairly, adding that China must safeguard its core interests.

Trump had threatened to expand existing US tariffs to cover almost all imports from China into the United States if the meeting brought no progress.

The US accuses China of stealing US intellectual property for years, forcing American firms to share their technology as a condition for doing business in China, and subsidizing state-owned firms to dominate industries.

China said the United States is making unreasonable demands and must also make concessions.

Trade talks collapsed in May after Washington accused Beijing of walking back on previous pledges it made in the trade negotiations.

After the talks collapsed, Trump raised tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods, and China retaliated with levies on US imports.

The Trump administration also levied 25 percent tariffs on a separate category of Chinese imports worth $50 billion.