US, China hold phone call on Phase 1 trade deal

U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators held a phone call Tuesday morning Beijing time about the implementation of the phase one agreement between the two countries.

The call came after a scheduled six-month review of the August 15 deal was postponed to an unspecified date, and US President Donald Trump has subsequently claimed he postponed talks . Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin participated in Tuesday’s talks, according to statements from both governments.

“The parties discussed the steps China has taken to effect the structural changes called for by the Agreement that will ensure greater protection of intellectual property rights, remove barriers to US businesses in the areas of financial services and trade. agriculture and eliminate forced technology transfer, ”the Office of the US Trade Representative said in an online statement.

“The parties also discussed the significant increase in purchases of US products by China as well as future actions needed to implement the agreement,” the office added.

Beijing’s statement did not include these specific details of the talks.

“The two sides have engaged in a constructive dialogue on issues such as strengthening bilateral macroeconomic policy coordination and implementing the China-US Phase 1 economic and trade agreement,” according to an official English version of the statement of the Ministry of Commerce published by state media.

“The two sides agreed to create the conditions and atmosphere to continue to push forward the implementation of the trade agreement,” the state media report said.

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have intensified over the past two years, starting with the emphasis on trade and spilling over into technology and finance. The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese goods, to which Beijing has responded with its own tariffs.

In January, the two countries reached a phase one trade deal that called for increased Chinese purchases of American goods and better access to the Chinese financial market.

However, bilateral tensions only grew in the months that followed, amid the coronavirus pandemic and before Trump’s reelection bid in November.