Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) – There was no breakthrough after two days of talks. The negotiations in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday did not prevent new tariffs worth US$ 16 billion.
"We concluded two days of discussions with counterparts from China and exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a brief emailed statement.
US Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass led the US delegation and Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen led China’s. The latter was chosen by Xi Jinping to replace Liu He.
In addition to tariffs, discussions focused on "addressing structural issues in China", including intellectual property, technology transfer policies, and government subsidies.
"In order for us to get a positive result out of these engagements, it's really critical that they (China) address the fundamental concerns that we have raised," a senior Trump administration official said.
Washington's latest tariffs apply to 279 product categories, including semiconductors, plastics, chemicals and railway equipment, that the Office of the US Trade Representative has said benefit from Beijing's Made in China 2025 industrial plan to make China competitive in high-tech industries.
China's list of 333 US product categories hit with duties includes coal, copper scrap, fuel, steel products, buses and medical equipment.
Asian stocks fell on Friday after US-China trade talks ended without progress. Onshore Chinese yuan CNY=CFXS slipped 0.2 per cent to 6.8916 per dollar, its weakest in a week.
