China, US said to be wrangling over text before trade talks can resume

Washington wants to use longer document with earlier concessions from Beijing, but China wants its demands included, according to observers

Analysts say negotiations will be tough once they get going again, and a lack of trust will make it difficult to reach a deal

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Trade negotiators meet in Washington in January. It is not known when the two sides will sit down at the table again for talks. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:30pm, 19 Jul 2019Updated: 5:15am, 20 Jul 2019

China and the United States remain divided over which negotiating text to base their revived trade talks on, with Washington demanding a longer document be used that lists earlier promises made by Beijing, according to observers.

The countries’ top trade negotiators on Thursday had their second phone conversation since it was agreed to resume talks, but they did not give details of what was discussed.

Beijing and Washington had gone through 11 rounds of negotiations for a trade deal when talks collapsed on May 10. The US accused China of backtracking on its previous commitments, while Beijing accused Washington of making too many demands.

Despite Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreeing to a trade war truce and to restart talks during their summit in Osaka on June 29, the two sides have yet to agree on which version of the text will be used, according to a US industry source who declined to be named.

It is not known when negotiators from the two sides will next meet in person.

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