Xi to meet US trade officials

Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to meet top US officials in Beijing as the world’s two biggest economies rush to patch up their trade differences before a looming deadline.

Xi will meet on Friday with officials including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who are in the capital for crunch talks towards a trade deal, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. “Xi is scheduled to meet both Lighthizer and Mnuchin on Friday,” it said, quoting a source briefed on the arrangements.

Mnuchin said talks with China went well on Wednesday. “So far, so good,” he said, without divulging who he met. Mnuchin said earlier he hoped for “productive” trade meetings as the two countries seek to end a festering dispute that has seen both sides level tariffs at one other. US tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China are scheduled to rise to 25% from 10% if the two sides cannot reach a deal by a March 1 deadline, increasing pain and costs in sectors from consumer electronics to agriculture.

Mnuchin, asked by reporters as he left his Beijing hotel what his hopes were for the visit, said “productive meetings”. He did not elaborate.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News that President Donald Trump is weighing different possibilities on how to treat the March 1 deadline, adding that the final agreement depends on Trump and Xi meeting in person. Trump has already signalled flexibility on the deadline.