The Trump administration has rejected an offer by two Chinese vice-ministers to travel to the US this week for preparatory trade talks because of a lack of progress on two key issues, highlighting the difficulty that Washington and Beijing will face in trying to reach an agreement by a deadline of March 1.
This week’s planned trip by Wang Shouwen and Liao Min was intended to pave the way for a higher-level meeting in Washington on January 30 and 31 by Liu He, China vice-premier, and Robert Lighthizer, US trade representative.
But, according to people briefed on the negotiations, US officials cancelled this week’s face-to-face meetings with Mr Wang, a vice-minister of commerce, and Mr Liao, a vice-minister of finance, because of a lack of progress on “forced” technology transfers and potentially far-reaching “structural” reforms to China’s economy.
Weakening sentiment over global growth and the US-China trade talks dragged equities lower in Asia-Pacific trading, although China-focused stocks and the renminbi saw a lift thanks to a liquidity boost from China’s central bank.
Futures tipped a mixed start for Europe and the US, with the FTSE 100 set to open down 0.2 per cent when trading starts in London while S&P 500 futures were 0.2 per cent higher.
