Chinese and U.S. officials talked Tuesday and are scheduled to talk again in two weeks, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said Tuesday in a statement. The next talks will come just days before the United States’ September deadline to institute new tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the country’s top negotiator, spoke Tuesday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the ministry said in a statement. It said the second set of talks will happen over the phone, not in person, in two weeks.
The announcement signals a possible cooling in the rhetoric and threats between both sides that have escalated after talks fell apart again two weeks ago following a trip to Shanghai by Lighthizer and Mnuchin that resulted in no progress in the talks. President Trump announced the next day that the U.S. would proceed with the $300 billion in tariffs, which had previously been put on hold, and said the rates may go as high as 25%, up from their earlier proposed level of 10%. China responded by announcing it was suspending purchases of U.S. farm goods.
Trump indicated Tuesday in a tweet that the atmosphere for the negotiations may be improving. “As usual, China said they were going to be buying ‘big’ from our great American Farmers. So far they have not done what they said. Maybe this will be different!”
The U.S. is nevertheless readying the next round of tariffs. In a statement Tuesday the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said that certain products will will removed from the $300 billion list based on “health, safety, national security and other factors.”
