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CHINA-US-DIPLOMACY
US team to visit China for trade talks Jan 7-8: Beijing
BEIJING, Jan 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A US government delegation will visit
China Monday and Tuesday for the first face-to-face talks since President
Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart agreed on a temporary truce in the
trade war, China’s commerce ministry said.
The US team will be led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish
and will discuss “implementing the important consensus” reached by Trump and
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina
last year, it said Friday.
Word of the meeting follows small signs of progress — and the absence of
new threats from Trump — while the two sides work to ease trade tensions by
March 1.
Washington and Beijing have exchanged tit-for-tat tariffs on more than $300
billion worth of goods in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict
that has begun to eat into profits and contributed to stock market plunges.
The ceasefire began on December 1 in Buenos Aires after the two heads of
state agreed to hold off on further tariffs or retaliation for 90 days.
In December, China’s major state-owned grain stockpiler said it had resumed
buying US soybeans, and Beijing announced it would suspend extra tariffs on
US-made cars and auto parts starting January 1.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0850 hrs