Senior Chinese and U.S. officials will resume trade talks in Washington in early October, a month later than initially planned, said China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. Working-level discussions are planned for mid-September “to fully prepare for the substantial progress of the high-level consultations,” said the ministry following a telephone conversation between the lead negotiators from each nation.
“I hope this is a very serious attempt to get going and get back to the table like we were and bring this to fruition,” said Ted McKinney, agriculture undersecretary for trade. McKinney spoke to reporters from Montreal, where he was part of an agricultural trade mission to Canada.
Negotiators met in Shanghai for two days in late July, and the White House said at the time that they would continue work in early September in Washington. However, the trade war escalated during August, with each side announcing new tariffs on the other. On Wednesday, President Trump was noncommittal when asked if there would be a meeting this month, saying, “I would think they would want to solve the problem.”
Hu Xijin, editor of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, pointed to the Commerce Ministry’s statement about preparations this month as a good sign for progress in October. “There’s more possibility of a breakthrough between the two sides,” said Hu, who is believed to have sources in the Chinese government.