- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shilpa Sharma
CHINA’S chief economic envoy Liu He and the US treasury secretary Janet Yellen held their first virtual meeting on Wednesday (2) to discuss areas of mutual concern.
However, the two sides did not give any indication when negotiations on ending their tariff war might resume.
On May 26, vice premier Liu had a talk with trade representative Katherine Tai, the head of the US delegation to the tariff talks about the ongoing review of the trade relationship between the two countries.
President Joe Biden, who took office in January, has yet to say how he will handle the trade war launched by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
During his tenure as president, Trump raised tariffs on imports from China over complaints about its industrial policy, in response to which Beijing suspended purchases of US soybeans and hiked tariffs on other goods.
Negotiators from the two sides haven’t met in person since before the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020.
Meanwhile, lower-level officials hold monthly meetings by phone on the status of carrying out the Phase 1 agreement from early 2019 aimed at ending the conflict.
Both the countries had agreed in the Phase 1 deal to suspend further tariff hikes on each other’s goods and to roll some back.
China had promised to buy more US soybeans and other goods, but could not fulfill that commitment as the pandemic disrupted global trade.
