The U.S. Trade Representative will lead pivotal, top-level trade meetings with China’s delegation at the White House this week.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S. will welcome the Chinese trade delegation January 30-31 for talks on White House grounds.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He has been expected to participate in the Chinese delegation to the U.S. for trade talks.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday:
The meetings are a part of the agreement reached by President Trump and President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires on December 1, 2018, to engage in 90 days of negotiations with a view to achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China. The two sides will also discuss China’s pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States. Under this agreement, an official United States delegation traveled to Beijing for trade meetings from January 7 to 9, 2019.
The two nations had been locked in an exchange of levying tariffs and retaliatory tariffs until Presidents Trump and Xi agreed to the temporary tariff halt in December. The December meeting also resulted in China’s pledge to begin increasing purchases of U.S. soybeans that have been hit by tariffs and would relent on some tariffs levied on U.S. automobiles and parts.
President Trump has pointed to a downturn in the Chinese economy since the start of U.S. tariffs on the nation. At one of the stalls in trade talks in 2018, President Trump told Breitbart News he believed China “would love to make a deal,” but wasn’t yet ready to negotiate.
President Trump and his administration have been clear, China must halt “unfair” trade practices and theft of of U.S. intellectual property. Trump has also called for a reciprocal trading relationship.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will lead the U.S. team for trade negotiations with the Chinese. Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Larry Kudlow, and Assistant to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro will participate in the talks.
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook
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