China trade talks are set to resume on Oct. 10
- Trade talks between the U.S. and China are set to resume Oct. 10-11 in Washington, three people close to the talks tell CNBC.
- Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will be representing the delegation from Beijing, one of the people told CNBC.
Trade talks between the U.S. and China are set to resume Oct. 10-11 in Washington, three people close to the talks told CNBC on Thursday.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will be representing the delegation from Beijing, one of the people told CNBC.
Liu visited Washington this spring sporting the title "special envoy," empowering him to negotiate on behalf of President Xi Jinping and pledge in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump to buy American soybeans.
But Liu was stripped of that title on a subsequent trip, after Communist Party hardliners balked at some of the concessions to which he had agreed.
The White House, the Treasury Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment about the date for the resumption of talks.
Trump administration officials have said they expected the stalled talks with Beijing to resume next month.
The two economic superpowers in recent weeks have seen a gradual thaw in the tensions that have plagued negotiations over a sweeping deal that would address the U.S. trade deficit with China, intellectual property theft and the forced transfer of technology.
During a multilateral meeting with world leaders on Venezuela at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Chinese leaders "want to make a deal very badly. And it could happen. ... It could happen sooner than you think."
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that the country had purchased a "considerable" amount of U.S. soybeans and pork products ahead of the next round of talks. The announcement marked a stark shift in relations from a month earlier, when Beijing said it had suspended all purchases of U.S. agricultural products.
Chinese officials had asked the Trump administration to delay a planned escalation of tariffs on Oct. 1, set to coincide with the politically sensitive anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic 70 years ago. Trump tweeted in September that he would oblige the request. Tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods are now scheduled to rise to 30% on Oct. 15, four days after the next round of talks wraps up.
In his speech to the entire U.N. assembly Tuesday, Trump had reaffirmed that he will not accept a "bad deal" with China.