US, China Aim to Sign Trade Deal in Late May or Early June - Reports
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Trade negotiators from the United States and China plan to hold a new round of negotiations later this month and hope to wrap up a final agreement by late May or early June, US media reported on Wednesday.
The two sides have set up a draft schedule of meetings that they hope will conclude with a formal signing ceremony as early as May 27, or the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The plan will see US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer travel to Beijing the week of April 29, ahead of a visit by China's Vice Premier Liu He to Washington the week of May 6.
The talks are aimed at ironing out the wording of a final trade agreement that would be signed by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The report noted, however, that US and Chinese officials have previously missed their own deadlines for concluding a deal.
US President Donald Trump on April 4, after meeting with China's Liu at the White House, said he hopes to wrap up a trade deal with China within four weeks.
Beijing and Washington have been embroiled in a trade dispute since June, when US President Donald Trump announced the United States would impose 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods worth of $50 billion in a bid to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have exchanged several rounds of trade tariffs.
- Source : Sputnik News
