With the next wave of US tariffs hitting as early as Wedensday and negotiations stalled for weeks, Beijing and Washington are looking to restart talks in order to avert a full-blown trade war between the world’s two largest economies, according to Bloomberg, citing two people familiar with the effort.
Representatives of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are having private conversations as they look for ways to reengage in negotiations, according to the people who spoke about the deliberations on condition of anonymity. They cautioned that a specific timetable, the issues to be discussed and the format for talks aren’t finalized, but added there was agreement among the principals that more talks need to take place. –Bloomberg
Following weeks of stalled negotiations, the United States has been holding high-level internal discussions on trade posture with China, according to a third person who told Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.
Complicating matters, however, is a harder line approach taken by US trade representatitve Robert Lightizer, who is in charge of the US’s “301 investigation” that resulted in the tariffs, and which concluded that China has been stealing US technology.
The next wave of tariffs is set to kick in as soon as Wednesday, with the possible imposition of $16 billion of duties on Chinese imports – a move Beijing has vowed to respond to with the same level of tariffs on US products.
Stocks and the Yuan are surging on the heels of the announcement.
Developing…
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