U.S. and Chinese envoys to meet in Oct. for tariff talks

BEIJING

U.S. and Chinese envoys will meet in October for more talks aimed at ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth. Stock markets rose on Thursday’s announcement, but there has been no sign of progress since Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed in June to resume deadlocked negotiations about trade and technology.

The agreement on timing came in a phone call conducted by the chief Chinese envoy, Vice Premier Liu He, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

Officials will “conduct conscientious consultations” in mid-September to prepare, the ministry said.

Beijing is balking at U.S. pressure to roll back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other industries.

The U.S., Europe, Japan, and other trading partners say those plans violate China’s market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring firms to hand over technology.

The U.S. and China have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods.

In their latest escalation, Washington imposed 15% tariffs on $112 billion of Chinese imports Sunday and is planning to hit another $160 billion Dec. 15 — moves that would extend penalties to almost everything the U.S. buys from China. Beijing responded by imposing duties of 10% and 5% on about $120 billion on various American imports.