WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on trade talks beginning Wednesday between the U.S. and China (all times local):
10:30 a.m.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators have opened two days of high-level talks aimed at settling a six-month trade war.
Leading the American delegation is U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who welcomed the Chinese group on Wednesday. The Chinese team is headed by Vice Premier Liu He.
Lighthizer engaged in light-hearted banter about last year’s dinner meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in Argentina.
The ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has weakened both sides, shaken financial markets and clouded the outlook for the global economy.
A substantive resolution is not expected this week though a March 2 deadline looms. That’s when the Trump administration is scheduled to increase its tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent.
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10:15 a.m.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators will begin two days of high-level talks aimed at settling a six-month trade war that has weakened both sides, shaken financial markets and clouded the outlook for the global economy.
Yet the odds seem stacked against any substantive resolution this week to the standoff between the world’s two biggest economies. Perhaps the best that might be hoped for, analysts say, is for the two sides to agree to keep talking.
The differences between Beijing and Washington are vast. The United States is essentially demanding that China downsize its economic aspiration to become a supreme world leader in such fields as robotics and electric cars.
Earlier negotiations flamed out. And this time President Donald Trump might be inclined to drive an especially hard bargain after being forced to cave in a dispute with congressional Democrats that partially shut the federal government for 35 days.
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