White House confirms progress in US-China trade talks

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow confirmed that the trade talks between Beijing and Washington had made progress, but made clear that nothing has been resolved so far.

Kudlo said in statements on Saturday that they made a progress with China during the Beijing meeting of negotiators in January, but nothing has been resolved so far, there is nothing on paper, there are no new contracts between the two sides. He denied press reports that had indicated a bilateral agreement ending the trade dispute between the two economic poles.

The White House economic adviser said the press information was simply inaccurate, but that does not mean that in the coming months they will not have very good deals on trade with China.

Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China announced on Thursday that the Chinese Vice Premier, chief trade negotiator Liu He, will travel to Washington on January 30 and 31 to resume negotiations, in an indication of the existence of some development in this file, a month before the end of the truce in the trade dispute between the two countries.

Liu He, is considered as chief economic assistant to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and he is the one in charge of trade talks with the United States. This is Liu’s second visit to Washington for trade talks after his last visit in May.

Liu travels to Washington in a more challenging domestic economic environment in China, making it more urgent to try to conclude a trade deal with the United States.

Recent data in China showed a state of economic slowdown amid a drop in exports due to weak demand and increased risk of deflation as the tariff war launched by Washington last year escalated.

There was optimism in US and Chinese officials’ comments on the outcome of the recent trade talks held in Beijing last week, raising hopes of global markets that the two sides could soon reach a settlement on the tariff dispute.

The results of the latest talks came on the basis of an agreement reached by US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a meeting held on December 1 on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, in which they agreed to postpone the implementation of the decision to raise tariffs on the other party’s products for 90 days (until 1 March), hoping to reach an agreement on outstanding trade issues.

If no agreement is reached by March 1, the United States will raise its tariffs on an estimated $ 200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. (QNA)