Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit the United States on January 30 and January 31 for the next round of trade negotiations with the Donald Trump administration, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting China’s commerce ministry.
The announcement of Liu’s visit comes a week after lower-level discussions were held in Beijing. China has promised to import a large number of American products and services during a 90-day tariff truce between the two countries that was agreed upon during a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in December.
China’s Commerce Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said Liu was travelling to the US at the invitation of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and trade negotiator Wright Heze, PTI reported. “He [Liu] will hold consultations with the US on economic and trade issues between the two countries and jointly promote the implementation of the important consensus of the two heads of state,” Gao added.
Liu is also expected to hold talks with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and review the recent official-level discussions to work out an agreement to end the trade war.
The US and China had been engaged in a trade war since last year, when President Donald Trump accused Beijing of indulging in unfair trade practices. After the US imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion, around Rs 17.8 lakh crore, worth of Chinese goods, China responded by targeting US goods valued at $110 billion, around Rs 7.9 lakh crore.
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