US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told a committee in the House of Representatives that Beijing had conceded to a process by which US officials could monitor whether China was upholding the terms of any future trade agreement, the Financial Times reports.
China will attend monthly meetings at the office director level to discuss and enforce US complaints regarding what it perceives to be unfair trade practices, Lighthizer said. Semi-annual meetings will be held at ministerial level. A failure to do this would open to the door for Washington to apply “unilateral” but “proportional” punishment on Beijing.
“Let me be clear: much still needs to be done both before an agreement is reached and, more importantly, after it is reached, if one is reached,” said Lighthizer.
He added that he was “not foolish enough” to believe one deal would eliminate all Sino-US trade tensions, but that “real progress” was being made.