MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US and China trade talks ahead of Xi and Trump's meeting in Buenos Aires

Chinese negotiators will arrive in Washington “shortly” with the aim of ironing out an informal deal, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday

United States and Chinese negotiators have revived trade talks in the hopes of reaching a draft agreement before President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet face-to-face on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Argentina.

 Chinese negotiators will arrive in Washington “shortly” with the aim of ironing out an informal deal, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday at a panel event in Washington, though he did not specify an exact time frame for a meeting.

Trade will be one of the issues up for discussion when the delegation arrives, a Treasury spokesperson revealed. The fresh momentum comes after months of widening stalemate between the world's two largest economies over trade, a key issue for Trump.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said later on Tuesday morning on CNBC that the restart of talks is “a good thing.”

Trump was scheduled to meet with members of his trade team on Tuesday to discuss a separate issue: auto tariffs. The US government is weighing whether to impose tariffs on Japanese and European SUVs, vans and auto parts, ostensibly to protect national security interests. It's unlikely a decision is imminent, according to a US official.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke by phone on Friday, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed on Tuesday, an effort to restart trade discussions ahead of the two leaders meeting, which Trump has boasted would be a “good meeting.” The call was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

So far, Chinese government officials have declined to comment directly on the reported call between Mnuchin and Liu, but have acknowledged recent communications following a phone conversation earlier this month between Trump and Xi.

“The two countries' economic teams are in touch to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders,” Chinese Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said at a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. “We hope to achieve positive results with efforts from both sides.”