New round of US-China trade talks to begin Tuesday in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new round of talks between the United States and China to resolve their trade dispute will be held in Washington on Tuesday, with follow-up sessions at a higher level later in the week, announced Monday. White House.

The talks follow a series of negotiations that ended in Beijing last week without an agreement, but which, according to officials, have led to progress on the contentious issues between the two largest economies in the world.

The talks are aimed at "realizing the necessary structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China. The two sides will also discuss China's commitment to buy a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States, "the White House said in a statement.

The high-level talks will begin on Thursday and will be led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who strongly advocates for China to stop ending practices that the US says include forced technology transfer. 39, US companies and the theft of intellectual property.

China, which denies having such practices, confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister Liu He will visit Washington Thursday and Friday for talks.

The White House said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow and Commercial Counselor Peter Navarro would also be involved in the negotiations.

US tariffs on imports of $ 200 billion from China are expected to rise from 10% to 25% if no agreement is reached on March 1st.

Trump, who suggested last week that he could extend the deadline for talks, repeated Monday in a speech that the talks had been fruitful.

"We are making a lot of progress. Nobody expected that to happen, "he told a crowd in Florida.