Investing.com - Talks over a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies enter what could be the final stages as negotiations between the U.S. and China continue in Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump is 'likely' to announce plans for a summit with China’s President Xi Jinping when he meets with the country’s vice premier on Thursday, according to an administration official, but discussions remain fluid and those plans could change.
Trump is due to meet with Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office at 4:30PM ET (20:30 GMT), according to a White House schedule.
That comes as Washington and Beijing appeared to be closing in on a deal that would put an end to their ongoing trade war.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Wednesday that Beijing had recognized problems for the first time that the U.S. has raised for years, referring to intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer and cyber hacking.
On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that the officials negotiating a trade deal have resolved most of the outstanding issues but are still haggling over how to implement and enforce such an agreement.
Implementation and enforcement have long been expected to be the major negotiation sticking points.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday the U.S. wanted to set a 2025 target for China to meet trade pledges. The plan would see China committing to buy more U.S. commodities, including soybeans and energy products, and allow full foreign ownership for U.S. companies operating in China as a binding pledge.
Global stocks took a breather after hitting multi-month highs in the previous session on hopes that a U.S.-China trade deal could be imminent after both sides reported progress.
"It would take some significant breakthrough, such as a total removal of tariffs implemented last year, to give the markets fresh momentum," said J.P. Morgan Asset Management Asia Pacific Chief Market Strategist Tai Hui.
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-- Reuters contributed to this report