The latest round of trade negotiations between officials from the US and China ended without significant progress over the weekend, with both sides unwilling to cede ground after last week’s surprise renewed tariff threats from Washington.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met his opposite number Liu He in Beijing on Saturday, where talks focused on obtaining long-term commitments from China on recent pledges to increase imports of American agricultural and energy products.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the tariff offensive made last week prompted a defiant response from the Chinese officials, who posed the issue as a potential deal-breaker for any previous promises.
“If the US introduces trade sanctions including tariffs,” an official statement from Chinese state media read, the results of previous negotiations “won’t go into effect,” leaving the door open for retaliation in addition to no reduction of the two countries’ trade imbalance.