US, Chinese negotiators face ‘large amount of work’

Beijing said yesterday US and Chinese negotiators still face a “large amount of work” as they meet for fresh talks aimed at resolving a months-long trade war. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrived for two days of meetings in Beijing with China’s top economic official Liu He, the first since China put into law new measures seen as an olive branch in their high-stakes stand-off.

While US President Donald Trump has voiced hope that he could soon hold a signing ceremony with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, negotiations have dragged on, suggesting substantial differences remain. Liu, Mnuchin and Lighthizer have “made some progress” after holding several phone calls recently, commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a weekly press briefing. “But there is still a large amount of work remaining to finish,” he said, adding both sides are “going all out to earnestly negotiate” following the truce struck by Xi and Trump in December.

The negotiators will have a working dinner on Thursday before a full day of talks on Friday, Gao said. Liu He will head to Washington next week for more talks. “Ambassador Lighthizer and myself are pleased to be back here in Beijing. We look forward to productive meetings,” Mnuchin said ahead of the dinner. Lighthizer has sought to play down expectations. “I’m hoping but not necessarily hopeful,” he told National Public Radio earlier this week.

“If there’s a great deal to be gotten, we’ll get it -- if not, we’ll find another plan.” The two sides have slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods since last year, hitting a slew of businesses. Trump suggested last week some of those tariffs should stay in place after a deal is reached to ensure China follows through.