The White House said Friday that the U.S. and China aren’t close yet to an agreement to ends their costly trade war, which could escalate further if there’s no deal by March 1.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said after high level meetings this week, there was “progress,” but no deal in sight.
“These detailed and intensive discussions led to progress between the two parties,” she said. “Much work remains, however.”
The U.S. has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods to retaliate against China’s failure to respect U.S. intellectual property rights, and its policy of forced technology transfer.
China has retaliated with its own tariffs and other restrictions on trade, and the U.S. has said it would hit all of China’s exports with tariffs if there’s no deal by March 1.
While there have been rumblings that the U.S. would extend that deadline, Sanders’ statement made no mention of that option, and said the U.S. is for now sticking to the deadline.
“Both sides will continue working on all outstanding issues in advance of the March 1, 2019, deadline for an increase in the 10 percent tariff on certain imported Chinese goods,” she said.
The U.S. and China will meet against in Washington next week. This week’s meetings were led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
