News24
14 Aug 2019, 11:43 GMT+10
Chinese officials are sticking to their plan to visit Washington in September for face-to-face trade meetings, people familiar with the matter said, signaling that talks remain on track for now despite an abrupt escalation in tariff threats this month.
The US on Tuesday delayed the imposition of some new tariffs after top negotiators spoke on the phone, with President Donald Trump saying the encounter was "very productive," and that he thinks Beijing wants to "do something dramatic" to end the impasse.
That said, Chinese negotiators are not very optimistic of any imminent progress, one of the people said. Officials are unlikely to make concessions in the run up to October 1, the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, the person said.
S&P 500 futures erased their losses, the yen pared gains and the yuan rose slightly on the news. The Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tensions between the world's two biggest economies rose significantly this month after Trump said he would tariff another $300 billion of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to halt US agricultural purchases and allow the yuan to weaken. The escalation brought into question whether talks planned for September would still go ahead, with Trump saying it's "fine" if they don't.
Though Trump has often denied his tariffs have any impact on consumer prices and insists their cost is being borne by China, he also said the delay had been made "so it won't be relevant to the Christmas shopping season".
Prospects for genuine progress in trade talks are low, especially as Chinese President Xi Jinping tackles weeks-long protests in Hong Kong that his government blames the US for instigating.
Whether or not the talks actually take place also depends on developments between now and then, according to one of the people. The next call between the negotiating teams will be in two weeks.
Get a daily dose of San Jose Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to San Jose Sun.
More Information(Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images) Masataka Yoshida is expected to be in the lineup when the Boston Red Sox try to complete...
(Photo credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images) After a week of angst that saw them fall out of first place in the American League East,...
(Photo credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images) New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto might be trying to prove a point this week after he...
(Photo credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images) Luis Arraez homered in the seventh inning to break up a scoreless tie Tuesday night and...
(Photo credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images) Lawrence Butler homered twice and Nick Kurtz belted his first career grand slam to lead...
(Photo credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images) Luis Arraez homered in the seventh inning to break up a scoreless tie Tuesday night and...
LONDON, U.K.: This week, BP appointed Simon Henry, former Shell finance chief, to its board as a non-executive director effective September...
OTTAWA, Canada: With Canada Post struggling to maintain operations amid labour unrest, rivals like FedEx and UPS are stepping in to...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. and global markets showed a mixed performance in Tuesday's trading session, with some indices edging higher...
PARIS, France: French military and intelligence officials have accused China of orchestrating a covert campaign to damage the reputation...
NEW DELHI, India: Birkenstock is stepping up its efforts to protect its iconic sandals in India, as local legal representatives conducted...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...