BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - After a gap of more than two months US-China trade talks resumed in Shanghai Wednesday in the shadow of President Donald Trump's tweet blaming Beijing of trying to change the course in their favor.
'My team is negotiating with them now, but they always change the deal in the end to their benefit,' Trump said on Twitter as delegations of both sides sat down for a working dinner at the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai Tuesday night.
Official talks began on Wednesday. United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin are negotiating on behalf of the Trump administration, while Vice Premier Liu He led the Chinese side in the talks.
Trump expressed doubt if China is delaying the talks until next year's presidential election in the hope that he will get defeated.
If a Democrat 'like Sleepy Joe' will get elected, 'they could make a GREAT deal, like in past 30 years, and continue to ripoff the USA, even bigger and better than ever before,' he said.
'The problem with them waiting, however, is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now...or no deal at all. We have all the cards, our past leaders never got it,' Trump tweeted.
China's state broadcaster CCTV responded to Trump's comments by saying, 'Some people in the US should do the job of building up the foundation (for talks) instead of demolishing it'. Otherwise, it would only undermine bilateral cooperation and miss an historical opportunity, it added.
Although White House says the latest round of trade talks are aimed at improving the trade relationship between the two economic power houses, media reports say not much progress is expected from Shanghai.
The discussions will cover a range of issues, including intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services, the trade deficit, and enforcement.
In May, the Trump administration had imposed 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, ranging from semi-conductors to furniture, that are imported to the United States. China retaliated by raising tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods.
In June, Trump warned of additional tariff imposition on nearly all of the remaining Chinese goods exported to the US, worth $300 billion. They include products such as cell phones, computers and clothing.
Later, during the G20 summit in Osaka, Trump announced that he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a 'truce' in the trade war after extensive talks. Prior tariffs are to remain in effect, and no future tariffs are to be enacted 'for the time being' as Washington would continue to negotiate with Beijing.
Additionally, American companies wold be allowed to sell their products to Huawei, but the Chinese telecom giant would remain on the U.S. trade blacklist.
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