China will reportedly try to separate trade issues and national security ones from the upcoming round of negotiations set to begin in Washington, D.C.
Beijing officials hope sectioning off the issues will break a stalemate in the talks. The moves comes as the White House has announced that it will delay imposing some tariffs on China as a goodwill gesture.
Beijing will limit Vice Premier Liu He, the country’s top negotiator, to talking on trade issues next week and it will put security issues in the hands of a second negotiation team, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The arrangement is meant to improve the odds of a trade deal while leaving difficult issues, like the status of Chinese telecom company Huawei, aside for the time being. The U.S. has declared the company a national security threat and put it on a export blacklist.
China had previously made gaining relief for Huawei a precondition in talks, while the Trump administration had contended that the company’s status was a separate national security matter.
Trade negotiations between the U.S. and China have been stalled for months, but both sides seem intent on creating a better atmosphere for the next round. President Trump said Wednesday that he would hold off on imposing some scheduled tariff hikes. “At the request of the Vice Premier of China, Liu He, and due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th Anniversary on October 1st, we have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th,” he tweeted.
