U.S., China agree on more trade talks

Nation’s presidents may meet next month in Florida

U.S. and Chinese negotiators agreed Friday to extend high-level trade talks through the weekend, and President Donald Trump said he hopes to meet next month at his Florida resort with President Xi Jinping to try to finalize an agreement.

The news followed two days of negotiations in Washington aimed at resolving a trade war that has rattled financial markets and threatened global economic growth.

“We’re making a lot of progress,” Trump told reporters. “I think there’s a very good chance that a deal can be made.”

Negotiations would continue through Sunday.

Trump had warned that he would escalate the tariffs he has imposed on $200 billion in Chinese imports, from 10 to 25 percent, if the two sides failed to reach a deal by March 2. But in recent days, he raised the possibility of extending that deadline if negotiators were near an agreement.

The world’s two biggest economies are sparring over U.S. allegations that Beijing uses predatory tactics in a drive to make Chinese companies world leaders in such advanced industries as robotics and driverless cars.

Those tactics include cyber-theft, unfair subsidies for state-owned Chinese companies, use of regulations to hobble China’s foreign competitors and pressure on American companies to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market.