China agrees to semiconductor talks

Officials from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) agreed to meet with their US counterparts to attempt to settle the trade standoff over China's value-added tax on semiconductors. MOFCOM officials released a statement saying that China was willing to meet with US trade officials to discuss the tax, which the US cited as a violation of China's World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations in the first formal WTO complaint against China. The central issue of the tax is the partial refund given to Chinese semiconductor manufacturers. No time or place for discussions has been announced.