PREVIEW: US, China Trade Talks To Take Place In Washington On August 22-23

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2018) The United States and China are set to begin two days of talks in Washington, DC on Wednesday in a bid to put an end to their escalating trade dispute.

A Chinese delegation led by Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen will meet with US officials led by the Treasury Under Secretary David Malpass on Tuesday and Wednesday. The resumption of trade negotiations between the worlds two largest economies comes after both sides slapped steep tariffs on each others goods valued at around $50 billion.

China is sending a lower-ranking official to the talks, which will be the fourth such round of negotiations. Previous talks were led by two higher ranking officials, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Prime Minister Liu He.

The discussions will take place amid an escalating trade war between the two countries sparked by President Donald Trump's decision on July 6 to impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods. China responded by imposing tariffs on a equal value of US goods.

Last week the Office of the US Trade Representative announced it had finalized another set of tariffs on $16 billion worth of products from China that would be subjected to a 25 percent tariff. The new package will come into force on Thursday, the second day of the negotiations. Beijing has promised to again match the US move by imposing tariffs on $16 billion worth of US goods.�

US and Chinese officials have not had official conversations for almost two months after the meeting in June failed to achieve a breakthrough.

White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters last week President Trump was not going to back down on China until the country changes its behavior. He suggested the Chinese economy was not in good shape because of the trade dispute and, therefore, Beijing should change its course.

During Chinese Vice Premier Liu Hes visit to Washington in May, the two countries reached "a consensus on taking effective measures to substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China," according to a joint statement. However, the trade agreement failed shortly afterward, when Trump decided to proceed with the executive order to charge Chinese goods with 25 percent import duties.