U.S., Chinese Officials to Meet Aug. 15, Assess Trade Deal--Update
04 Agosto 2020 - 6:13PM
Dow Jones News
By Lingling Wei in New York and Bob Davis in Washington
The U.S. and China have agreed to high-level talks on Aug. 15 to
assess Beijing's compliance with the bilateral trade agreement
signed early this year, according to people briefed on the
matter.
The trade pact has emerged as one of the few remaining avenues
for the two countries to engage on matters of mutual concern.
Relations have deteriorated in recent months, with the Trump
administration hammering Beijing over the coronavirus outbreak,
Hong Kong and the treatment of Uighurs in western China.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping's point man on economic
policies, will participate in the talks, likely via
videoconference, the people said.
The focus will be on the so-called phase-one deal, which
includes China's commitment to boost its U.S. imports by $200
billion over two years. So far, China has fallen well short of the
pace needed to reach the target, even though it has increased
purchases of American soybeans, pork, corn and other farm products
in recent months.
Mr. Liu -- the lead Chinese negotiator whose portfolio includes
oversight over China's technology sector -- is also expected to
raise concerns about the U.S. crackdown on Chinese tech companies,
the people said.
"He would want to discuss how the U.S. can work toward not
surprising the Chinese with daily policy actions," one of them
said.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office declined immediate
comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn't immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the
trade pact was signed in January, with Mr. Trump repeatedly blaming
China for the global spread of the coronavirus.
Beijing has hit back at the American actions with both
increasingly hawkish rhetorics and actions. It immediately
retaliated against Washington's sudden shutdown of the Chinese
consulate in Houston by closing the U.S. consulate in the western
city of Chengdu.
Write to Lingling Wei at lingling.wei@wsj.com and Bob Davis at
bob.davis@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 04, 2020 16:58 ET (20:58 GMT)
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