China and the US discussed the road map for the next stage of their trade talks on Tuesday, during a telephone call between Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Earlier this month in Argentina, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a truce that delayed the planned January 1 US hike of tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on $200 billion of Chinese goods.

Lighthizer said on Sunday that unless US-China trade talks wrap up successfully by March 1, new tariffs will be imposed, clarifying there is a “hard deadline” after a week of seeming confusion among Trump and his advisers.

China's Commerce Ministry, in a brief statement, said Liu had spoken with Mnuchin and Lighthizer on Tuesday morning Beijing time on a pre-arranged telephone call.

“Both sides exchanged views on putting into effect the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders at their meeting, and pushing forward the timetable and roadmap for the next stage of economic and trade consultations work,” the ministry said.

It did not elaborate.

A US Treasury spokesman confirmed that the call with Liu took place, but offered no further details. The US Trade Representative's office did not immediately respond to a query about the call. The Harvard-educated Liu, Xi's top economic advisor, is leading the talks from China's end.

Global markets are jittery about a collision between the world's two largest economic powers over China's huge trade surplus with the US and Washington's claims that Beijing is stealing intellectual property and technology.

The arrest of a top executive at China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has also roiled global markets amid fears that it could further inflame the China-US trade row.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW