U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, speaking to reporters on Monday, said, “Over the course of the last week or so we have seen an erosion in commitments by China. That in our view is unacceptable,” according to The BBC.
Lighthizer accused China of backtracking on its trade commitments – adding the Chinese have tried to change the text of the agreement between the two countries as the talks near their final stages. “We’re not breaking off talks at this point. But for now… come Friday there will be tariffs in place,” Lighthizer said.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is expected to join the trade talks in Washington this week, although he will only be attending negotiations on Thursday and Friday. He originally was to attend all the talks between the two countries, scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday, reports CNBC.
“The Trump administration seems to have concluded that it is time to get it done. In other words, it’s either deal or no deal,” said Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, in a note. But “I expect that the US and China will settle their differences on trade issues sooner rather than later.”
It will be some time before trade talks will be back on track, according to many analysts, citing an overall mutual distrust between the two sides. “It is likely a cooling-off period will be needed to get the talks back on track, but the imposition of additional tariffs by the US later this week could keep the talks derailed for a while to come,” Cornell University professor of trade policy Eswar Prasad tells the Wall Street Journal.
