As investors watch with baited breath to see whether a deal to extend a trade-talk deadline can be struck, Bloomberg reported Thursday that Vice Premier Liu He has arrived at the White House campus to meet with Robert Lighthizer and Steven Mnuchin – and that, beginning with a breakfast in the Indian Treaty Room in the EEOB, the latest round of cabinet-level talks have finally gotten underway.
Trump officials and China’s Vice Premier Liu He are meeting on White House campus today for last-ditch trade talks.
Breakfast in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. pic.twitter.com/PcrQD45ELo
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 21, 2019
So far, at least, US officials are refusing to comment on the possibility of an extension to the March 1 “hard” deadline, though the White House has reportedly been considering a 60-day delay to give time to meet with President Xi.
I asked Mnuchin and Lighthizer when they will announce an extension for the China tariffs. No answer. pic.twitter.com/qdj0nqOwr2
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 21, 2019
Over the past week, leaks from people “close to the talks” have indicated that the two sides are working on up to six memorandums of understanding, while the US seeks reassurances that Beijing will keep the yuan “stable”. The US’s insistence that Beijing adopt structural economic reforms and end the forced transfers of US companies’ IP has met with resistance from Beijing, while Beijing has reportedly promised to buy an additional $30 billion in US agricultural products to help shrink the US-China trade deficit, which would hand Trump a concrete “win”. Trump will reportedly meet with Liu on Friday.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2U01Z8h Tyler Durden