US-China trade talks “set foundation” for resolution of concerns, says Beijing

Trade talks between China and the United States in Beijing this week helped establish a foundation to resolve each other’s concerns, said China’s commerce ministry on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Talks were held over three days in the first face-to-face negotiations since the meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires in December, when they agreed to a 90-day truce in the trade war.

The two sides “held extensive, deep and thorough exchanges on trade and structural issues of common concern, which promoted mutual understanding and established a foundation for the resolution of each other’s concerns”, the Chinese commerce ministry said in a brief statement.

However, no concrete details have been released on the progress made so far in negotiations. This week’s meetings were not high-level, so they were not expected to lead to a deal.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s offices said in a statement that officials discussed “ways to achieve fairness, reciprocity and balance in trade relations”.

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Trump has said that he would increase duties on another USD 200 billion in Chinese imports from 10 to 25 percent if no deal is reached by March 2, and has also threatened to tax all imports from China if Beijing doesn’t respond to US demands.