US, China postpone weekend talks on trade deal

The US and China had planned to review progress at the six-month mark of their phase-one trade agreement, sources say.

China
[File: Bloomberg]

The U.S. and China are postponing talks planned for over the weekend that had been aimed at reviewing progress at the six-month mark of their phase-one trade agreement, people familiar with the matter said.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was supposed to hold a video conference call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin but it’s been rescheduled indefinitely, according to the people. The USTR’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The talks never made it on to any official public calendar in Washington or Beijing, but the South China Morning Post reported earlier Friday that they were set for Saturday. Earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that information on high-level talks will be released “in due course.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, on Thursday said the trade deal is going well, repeating comments he’d made earlier in the week and saying that the principals have a phone call coming up to review the deal, dismissing concerns that rising tensions between the two countries might jeopardize the pact.

The postponement was reported earlier by Reuters, which blamed scheduling issues.

Source: Bloomberg