US, China Prepare For Next 'Visitation Exchange' In Bid For Trade Deal - Official

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2019) US and Chinese trade officials are discussing plans for reciprocal visits after an initial round of negotiations that made historical progress on resolving a range of obstacles to commercial ties between the two nations, Director of the White House Economic Council Larry Kudlow told the National Press Club on Tuesday.

"The two sides are discussing now another visitation exchange," Kudlow said. "I'm not here to make an announcement, but both sides are talking about that. There may be more soon but we're not there yet."

Reciprocal visits to Beijing and Washington for negotiations earlier this spring produced progress that Kudlow characterized as "deeper, broader, larger scale that anything in the history of US-China trade."

He said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the talks would succeed but declined to make any predictions.

US media reports last week said that trade officials from Beijing and Washington are planning a new round of negotiations later this month and hope to wrap up a final agreement by late May or early June.

The two sides have set up a draft schedule of meetings that they hope will conclude with a formal signing ceremony as early as May 27, or the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports last summer in a bid to pressure Beijing to negotiate over policies that have led to annual trade surpluses with the United States exceeding $500 billion.