INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WASHINGTON: US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up their latest round of trade talks on Friday and were scheduled to resume discussions next
week to try to secure a pact that would end a tit-for-tat tariff battle that has roiled global markets.
The two sides offered few details of
the progress as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He concluded three days of meetings with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said a deal could be announced in the next four weeks.
Washington and Beijing in 2018 slapped import
duties on each other's products that have cost the world's two largest economies billions of dollars and disrupted manufacturing and
The United States is seeking reforms to Chinese practices that it says result in the theft of US intellectual property and the forced
transfer of technology from US companies to Chinese firms
"Significant work remains, and the principals, deputy ministers, and delegation members will be in continuous contact to resolve
outstanding issues," the USTR said in a statement.
The negotiations included intellectual property, or IP, forced technology transfer,
non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services, purchases and enforcement, the statement said.
White house adviser Larry Kudlow, speaking on
Bloomberg Television earlier in the day, said Liu was due back in Beijing after Friday's talks, but the two sides would press ahead to
resolve remaining differences by video link.
"There's no let-up here, this is an ongoing process," Kudlow said.
Washington also has
demanded that Beijing curb industrial subsidies, open its economy wider to US companies, and increase purchases of US goods including farm
and energy commodities to shrink the gaping trade deficit with China
"We are making headway in a lot of areas
That includes enforcement, that includes IP theft, that includes forced technology transfers, ownership, cyberspace, commodities and all the
"Those are of course in the middle of the negotiations that are ongoing, but we've come further and farther than ever before."
While some
reform pledges by Beijing are largely set, including an agreement to avoid currency manipulation, an enforcement mechanism to ensure that
China keeps its pledges and the status of US tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods must be resolved.
The plan to continue the
discussions was taken as a positive sign.
"The fact that they're still talking - and talking positively about the discussions - suggests
they both think they're on the path to a resolution," said Erin Ennis, senior vice president of the US-China Business Council, which
represents US firms doing business in China
