WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting in Washington on Thursday and Friday in an attempt to settle their ongoing trade war, but a lasting peace seems elusive.
There is a litany of issues to address, from tariffs on specific products to much broader divides over issues like intellectual property theft and global supply chains.
Since trade negotiations between the world’s largest economies broke down in May, both countries have added tariffs on billions of dollars of the others’ goods, broken good faith promises, and traded public insults.
A delegation of about 30 Chinese officials, led by Vice Finance Minister Liao Min, met U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officials on Thursday. The two sides were expected to focus mostly on agriculture, with a view to getting a narrow agreement that USTR head Robert Lighthizer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Chinese vice premier Liu He can sign in October.
The atmosphere is likely to be frosty. The trade war has hardened into a political and ideological battle that runs far deeper than tariffs and could take years to resolve.
In recent months, Washington accused Beijing of reneging on commitments to change its laws to enact economic reforms, while Beijing called U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff’s “barbaric.”
Here is what is at stake:
TARIFFS
The Trump administration has rolled out stiff tariffs on Chinese imports since 2018, believing it gives White House officials leverage in talks. Chinese officials want these wiped out before they agree to any broader deal.
The U.S. has put 25% tariffs on some $250 billion of Chinese products, and China has retaliated with tariffs on $110 billion of U.S. imports.
The U.S. is scheduled to raise existing tariffs to 30% on Oct. 15, and tax
