Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are in Beijing this week resuming high-level trade talks as they close in on a deal that would end a months-long trade war that has cost both sides billions of dollars and hurt global economic growth.
The in-person talks, which will be followed by a round in Washington next week, are the first face-to-face meetings the two sides have held in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March goal for a summit between President Trump and XiJinpin to sign a pact.
U.S. negotiators have voiced concern that China is backtracking on earlier pledges, while officials in Beijing have shown resistance to proposals that they see as one-sided. China wants the United States to lift its tariffs as part of deal. However, Washington is cognizant that the tariffs give it leverage to ensure Bejing follows through with any commitments it makes.
China has made proposals in talks on a range of issues that go further than it has before, including on forced technology transfer, as the negotiators work to overcome obstacles to a deal to end the protracted trade war, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
U.S. companies say they are often pressured into handing over the technology know-how behind their products to Chinese joint venture partners, local officials, or Chinese regulators as a condition of doing business in China. The U.S. government maintains that technology is often subsequently transferred to and used by Chinese competitors.
This issue has proved difficult for negotiators as U.S. officials say China has previously refused to acknowledge the problem exists to the extent alleged by the United States, making resolution difficult. However, it has been reported that negotiators have made progress on the details of the written agreement that have been hashed out to address U.S. concerns.
Even after a deal might be signed, trade relations between the U.S. and China will likely remain tense for some time as the work towards a new equilibrium in their economic relationship.
Plans for a meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping to finalize an agreement have been pushed back by at least a month to late April at the earliest. President Trump said last week that he plans to keep tariffs on Chinese products until he is sure Beijing is complying with any deal, citing concerns that Beijing has not lived up to previous commitments.
