Trump, citing progress, to meet with China's Xi to try to seal trade deal

U.S. President Donald Trumpsaid on Thursday he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinpingsoon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal as Trump and histop trade negotiator both cited substantial progress in two daysof high-level talks.

Trump, speaking at the White House during a meeting withChinese Vice Premier Liu He, said he was optimistic that theworld's two largest economies could reach "the biggest deal evermade."

The Chinese trade delegation said in a statement that thetwo days of high-level talks made "important progress," China'sofficial Xinhua news agency reported.

No specific plans for a meeting with Xi were announced, butTrump said there could be more than one meeting. U.S. TradeRepresentative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin were invited to bring a U.S. negotiating team to Beijingaround mid-February, with dates still pending.

At the end of the talks next door to the White House, Liutold Trump that China would make a new, immediate commitment toincrease soybean purchases. An administration official laterclarified the amount as a total of fivemillion tonnes, effectivelydoubling the amount bought by China since resuming limitedpurchases in December.

U.S. soybean sales to China, which totaled 31.7 milliontonnes in 2017, were largely cut off in the second half of lastyear by China's retaliatory tariffs and the announcement drew apositive reaction from Trump, who said it would "make ourfarmers very happy."

The Chinese delegation's statement said China will expandimports of U.S. agricultural, energy, service and industrialproducts, according to Xinhua.

Sticking points on tech, IP issues

While China has offered increased purchases of U.S. farm,energy and other goods to try to resolve the trade disputes,negotiators dug into thornier issues, including U.S. demandsthat China take steps to protect American intellectual propertyand end policies that Washington says force U.S. companies toturn over technology to Chinese firms.

Lighthizer said there was"substantial progress" on these issues, including verificationmechanisms to "enforce" China's follow-through on any reformcommitments it makes.

"At this point, it's impossible for me to predict success.But we're in a place that if things work out, it could happen,"Lighthizer said at the Oval Office meeting.

Later, he told reporters that the U.S. objective was to makeChina's commitments "more specific, all-encompassing andenforceable" with a mechanism for taking action if China failsto follow through, but declined to provide specific issues.

Reuters previously reported that such an enforcementmechanism would involve a snap-back of U.S. tariffs.

Asked whether the two sides discussed lifting U.S. tariffson Chinese goods, Lighthizer said tariffs were not part of thetalks.

A person familiar with the discussions said a broad range ofconcerns about access to Chinese agricultural markets wereraised in the talks but little progress was made.

The White House said in a statement that a scheduled March 2tariff increase on $200 billion US of Chinese goods to 25 per centfrom 10 per cent was a "hard deadline" if no deal was reached byMarch 1.

Trump said he did not think he would need to extend thedeadline. "I think when president Xi and I meet, every pointwill be agreed to," Trump added.

Tit-for-tat tariffs

But Trump has vetoed multiple proposed trade deals withChina, choosing to push ahead with tariffs on Chinese goods togain leverage. Earlier, Trump said on Twitter he was looking forChina to open its markets "not only to Financial Services, whichthey are now doing, but also to our Manufacturing, Farmers andother U.S. businesses and industries. Without this a deal wouldbe unacceptable!"

The U.S. complaints on technology transfers, andintellectual property protections, along with accusations ofChinese cyber theft of American trade secrets and a systematiccampaign to acquire U.S. technology firms, were used by Trump'sadministration to justify punitive tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.

China has retaliated with tariffs of its own, but hassuspended some and is allowing some purchases of U.S. soybeansduring the talks.

Chinese officials have said their policies do not coercetechnology transfers.

The Chinese delegation said China will actively respond toU.S. concerns on intellectual property and creating a fairmarket environment, Xinhua reported.

The U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are just one front inTrump's efforts to upend the global trading order with his"America First" strategy. He has also imposed global tariffs onimported steel and aluminum, washing machines and solar panelsand has threatened to raise tariffs on imported cars unlessJapan and the European Union offer trade concessions.