China and the U.S. Discuss 'Roadmap' in Trade Negotiations

Senior officials from the governments of China and the United States have discussed the next steps and achieving a roadmap during trade negotiations. This discussion took place after the leaders of the two countries agreed on a 90-day 'trade truce'. Chinese state media report that Liu He, the Vice Premier, spoke by phone on Tuesday, December 20 (China time) with U.S. Treasury Secretary and Trade Representative. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that Liu He, Steven Mnuchin, and Robert Lighthizer 'consulted on formalizing the results of the leaders' meeting.' According to this ministry, officials from both countries also negotiated 'to reach a roadmap and achieve a specific timeline regarding economic and trade interactions.' Mr. Lighthizer stated on Sunday that March 1 is the deadline set for trade negotiations, and if no agreement is reached, the United States will implement new tariffs. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the presidents of the U.S. and China, reached an agreement on a 90-day truce regarding new tariffs on December 1 in Argentina, allowing trade negotiations to continue; as a result, the U.S. agreed not to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods in January. China had previously described the new U.S. tariffs as 'the largest trade war in history.' Liu He, the Vice Premier of China who is currently leading negotiations for Beijing, is a Harvard graduate and a senior economic advisor to Xi Jinping. Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, whose role is to develop and present trade proposals to the President, is known to be a staunch critic of China's economic policies. The latest round of negotiations comes as Canada, at the request of the U.S., has detained the CFO of Huawei, the Chinese tech giant. This has led the Chinese government to summon both the Canadian and U.S. ambassadors and warn about the continued detention of this Chinese citizen. Some say the detention of Meng Wanzhou will have repercussions on trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, while others believe the two countries will continue their discussions beyond this issue. Mr. Lighthizer recently told CBS News that the detention of the Huawei executive is a 'judicial matter' and is 'completely separate from what government officials are doing in trade policy.' He stated he does not believe economic policymaking will be affected by this incident. Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada on December 1 at the request of the United States. She faces charges of fraud and attempting to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran and is currently in custody in Canada.