The White House announced on Monday the U.S. delegation that will receive Chinese representatives for trade negotiations on Wednesday and Thursday.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will lead the discussions, President Donald Trump's administration said, with four other officials rounding out the U.S. delegation: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and trade advisor Peter Navarro.
The meetings represent the next step in negotiations begun after the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day truce in the trade war. The White House Press Secretary said the negotiations are aimed at "achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China."
"The two sides will also discuss China's pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States," the White House said.
Among those in the delegation, Navarro is especially known for his hard-line views on trade. Last month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average clinched what was its worst weekly performance in 10 years the day Navarro said "China is trying to steal our future."
The announcement comes after Chinese representatives met with the World Trade Organization on Monday, to begin the process of legally challenging United States tariffs on China's exports. China said the U.S. tariffs are "a blatant breach" of WTO policy. A U.S. representative at the meeting said China's claim was an "unfounded despite" and countered that it is China to blame for "threatening the overall viability of the WTO system."
Read the full statement from the Press Secretary here:
Today, President Donald J. Trump announced that the United States will welcome an official delegation from China for a series of meetings from January 30 to 31, 2019, to discuss the trade relationship between the two countries.
For the United States, the trade discussions will be led by United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer and include Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Larry Kudlow, and Assistant to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro. The United States principals will be accompanied by senior officials from the White House, USTR, and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, State, and the Treasury.
The meetings are a part of the agreement reached by President Trump and President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires on December 1, 2018, to engage in 90 days of negotiations with a view to achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China. The two sides will also discuss China's pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States. Under this agreement, an official United States delegation traveled to Beijing for trade meetings from January 7 to 9, 2019.
The meetings will take place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House.
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