WASHINGTON, Feb 5 — Senior US and Chinese officials are poised to start another round of trade talks in Beijing next week to push for a deal to protect American intellectual property and avert a March 2 increase in US tariffs on Chinese goods, two people familiar with the plans said today.
The sources said that the US delegation would begin arriving in Beijing over the weekend, following a break this week for Chinese New Year.
US President Donald Trump said in his State of the Union address today that any new trade deal with China “must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit and protect American jobs.”
The new round of talks in Beijing, to be led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing an unidentified senior administration official.
A USTR spokeswoman said the agency had no new announcements to make on the issue. A Treasury Department spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
The US president has vowed to increase US tariffs on US$200 billion (RM815.6 billion) worth of Chinese imports to 25 per cent from 10 per cent currently if the two sides cannot reach a deal by 12:01 am (0501 GMT) on March 2.
Bilateral talks have centreed on addressing US demands for deep structural changes to China’s economic and trade policies, including new protections for US intellectual property, ending forced technology transfers, reining in China’s subsidies for state industries and increasing Chinese purchases of US farm, energy and manufactured products.
The Journal said that China has agreed to widen the trade discussions to include cyber hacking.
“We are now making it clear to China that after years of targeting our industries, and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of American jobs and wealth has come to an end,” Trump said in his speech.
Trump said last week in Washington that he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in coming weeks to try to seal a comprehensive deal, possibly as part of a trip to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
That summit will take place February 27 and 28 in Vietnam, Trump said today. — Reuters
