Chinese delegation in DC for tense trade talks ahead of Trump’s Friday tariff deadline
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington today for another round of trade talks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
Following weeks of optimism that led up to 28 April’s meeting between the aforementioned parties in Beijing, prospects for an accord were cautious, but optimistic nonetheless. Since, US negotiators have accused their Chinese counterparts of reneging on a number of key concessions.
In response, the US Trade Representative filed a public notice saying that tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports would be hiked from 10% to 25% on Friday morning should talks not substantially progress. President Trump also threatened to levy duties on $325 billion of Chinese goods that aren’t currently covered by existing tariffs–– a move that would affect almost all goods imported from China. In turn, Beijing has threatened to immediately respond “in kind” should the US decide to raise its protectionist measures.
These updates have soured the prospects of today’s talks and emboldened trade hawks in both camps. Should talks falter, which seems more likely, and the US hike tariffs, talks would collapse, making it unlikely that any deal would be reached in the near future.
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