China, US trade talks resume in Shanghai in shadow of Donald Trump’s angry tweets aimed at Beijing

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did not comment on the talks during a photo session with Vice-Premier Liu He

Trump complained that China has not been ‘coming through’ in terms of buying US farm products or making progress on a deal to end the year-long trade war

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He (right) with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (third left) and US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (second left) in Shanghai. Photo: AP

Published: 11:50am, 31 Jul 2019Updated: 2:19pm, 31 Jul 2019

China and the United States resumed trade talks on Wednesday morning in Shanghai in the shadow of tweets from US President Donald Trump complaining that Beijing had not started buying American farm products and could not be counted on to agree to a deal.

US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did not comment on the progress of the talks during a media photo session with Vice-Premier Liu He.

“It’s a beautiful day, it’s really nice,” said Lighthizer, while Mnuchin added that the Huangpu River, which borders the Bund area of Shanghai where the talks are being held, was “very beautiful”.

Lighthizer and Mnuchin were joined at the Xijiao State Guest Hotel for the talks by deputy US trade representative Jeffrey Gerrish, with Commerce Minister Zhong Shan and vice-commerce minister Wang Shouwen accompanying Liu.

The US delegation had earlier checked out of their hotel on Wednesday morning, with the talks set to continue until midafternoon.

The talks, the first since May, had started on Tuesday with what was described as a working dinner on the same day China’s top leaders met in Beijing for their quarterly review of the economic situation.

But minutes after the Xinhua News Agency report on the Politburo meeting was published, Trump took to Twitter to complain at length that China has not been “coming through” in terms of buying US farm products or making progress on a deal to end the year-long trade war.