Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are likely to fly to China next week for face-to-face talks with Chinese counterparts, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.
The talks follow a phone call last week between Mnuchin and Vice-Premier Liu He, who leads the trade talks for China. At the end of June, President Donald Trump and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping agreed to a second trade truce and to resume negotiations.
Many expected Trump administration officials would announce a Beijing trip as early as this past weekend if the phone call went well. But administration officials, as well as Chinese officials, have remained mum. Trump on Friday said the negotiators had “a very good talk” but did not mention when a meeting might take place.
According to the SCMP report, the U.S. has agreed to some trade concessions as a goodwill gesture.
The initial arrangements for the meeting in Beijing, according to the source who declined to be identified, came after the United States announced that it would offer exemptions to 110 Chinese products, including medical equipment and key electronic components, from import tariffs. In a goodwill gesture of their own, China also said that several companies would buy American agricultural products having already applied for exemptions from the tariffs imposed by Beijing.
The SCMP does not provide more details on which products would be exempt from tariffs. There has been widespread speculation that the Trump administration could ease back on sanctions on Huawei while negotiations continue.
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