China wants more talks before signing trade deal with Donald Trump

BEIJING: China wants to hold more talks this month to hammer out the details of the “phase one” trade deal touted by Donald Trump before Xi Jinping agrees to sign it, according to people familiar with the matter.

Beijing may send a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, China’s top negotiator, to finalise a written deal that could be signed by the presidents at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month in Chile, one of the people said.

Another person said China also wants Trump to scrap a planned tariff hike in December in addition to the hike scheduled for this week, something the administration hasn't yet endorsed. The people asked not to be named discussing the private negotiations.


S&P 500 futures extended losses, Europe’s Stoxx 600 fell and the yen rose as investors grew pessimistic on the handshake deal. The yuan pared much of its earlier gains offshore.

The US and China have emerged from last week's talks with different takes on what's in the accord and how close they are to signing a document. Trump said “we've come to a deal, pretty much, subject to getting it written” and indicated it might take several more weeks of negotiation.

China's Ministry of Commerce merely said that “the two sides have made substantial progress” and “agreed to work together in the direction of a final agreement.” The staterun Xinhua news agency didn't mention a deal either.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking in an interview Monday on CNBC, said he expects officials to work in coming weeks to get the first stage ready for both sides to sign. If that doesn’t happen, the new US import taxes on Chinese products will be imposed starting Dec. 15, he said.

Taoran Notes, a state-affiliated blog that focuses on the trade talks, said that the difference in tone struck by Chinese media was due to “cultural and language” differences and both sides are in consensus over the deal.