Trade officials from the US and China have held “candid, pragmatic” talks, China’s commerce ministry said Thursday, their first discussions under the Biden era as Washington scrutinises whether Beijing is holding up its end of a trade pact.
A bruising trade war under President Donald Trump saw punitive tariffs lumped on a range of goods sold between the world’s two biggest economies.
The two countries signed a so-called “phase one” agreement in January 2020, in which Beijing pledged to increase its purchases of American products and services by at least $200 billion over 2020 and 2021.
But top US trade negotiator Katherine Tai has said she is analysing whether the terms of that pact have been met by China, with some experts saying Beijing is falling up to 40 percent short on its agreement to buy US goods.
On Thursday, China’s commerce ministry statement said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Tai spoke in “constructive exchanges in an attitude of equality and mutual respect”.
The “phase one” deal aimed to end a damaging two-year trade war launched by former president Trump, which battered relations between the two countries.
President Joe Biden’s administration has not rowed back on the tough trade rhetoric, insisting it will keep the tariffs in place for now.
Washington has upheld tariffs of 25 percent on a range of Chinese goods and industrial components worth $250 billion annually.
On its side, China has maintained duties on some imports from the United States.
