U.S., China hold new round of talks on tariffs

BEIJING — American and Chinese trade negotiators met Wednesday for talks on their bruising tariff war after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. side might be moving toward a decision on whether to make a deal with Beijing.

Wednesday’s atmosphere appeared amicable. Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, along with China’s economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, smiled for photos and shook hands after their one-day meeting.

But they said nothing to reporters, and no details were announced after the talks. Both governments have said they were making progress. That has helped to calm jittery financial markets.

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the discussions “remain focused toward making substantial progress on important structural issues” and the talks would continue next week in Washington.

The U.S. wants China to roll back industry development plans it says are based in part on stolen technology and that violate its marketopening commitments.

Mnuchin said Wednesday’s meeting and talks next week in Washington would help American officials decide whether to recommend that President Trump agree to a deal with Beijing.

Trump raised U.S. duties on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. Beijing retaliated by imposing penalties on $110 billion of U.S. goods.

The talks also cover exchange rates and possible measures to narrow China’s multibilliondollar trade surplus with the United States.

A sticking point has been American insistence on an enforcement mechanism with penalties to ensure that Beijing sticks to its commitments. Washington also wants to keep tariffs on Chinese imports to maintain leverage over Beijing.