Montana senator in Beijing: Rekindling stalled trade talks
Montana State Senator Steve Daines, a supporter of Donald Trump, is set to meet with a high-ranking Chinese leader in Beijing on Saturday, Bloomberg reports.
"President Xi Jinping’s government is set to welcome a US senator close to Donald Trump, as the world’s largest economies try to move forward trade talks that have stalled at lower levels," Bloomberg reports.
Senator heads to Beijing
It adds that the Republican will be the first American politician to publicly meet with a high-ranking Communist Party official since Donald Trump's return to office.
"Daines' trip to China is a way to negotiate behind the scenes," Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia and the Pacific at Natixis, told Bloomberg.
The U.S. and China are discussing organizing a "birthday summit," which will take place in Washington in June, as recently reported by the "Wall Street Journal." President Donald Trump will celebrate his 79th birthday on June 14, and the next day, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will turn 72.
The newspaper notes that facing increasing economic pressure, Beijing is interested in engaging in negotiations to avoid or delay the raising of tariffs and further technological restrictions from the U.S.
Trump's tariffs
On the night of March 3 to 4, the United States increased the tariff rate on goods from China from the 10% imposed at the beginning of February to 20%.
Last month, Donald Trump announced the first tariffs on Chinese imports. Beijing responded with 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, as well as 10% tariffs on crude oil and agricultural machinery imports.
The U.S.'s doubling of the tariff was met in turn with retaliation in the form of tariffs ranging from 10% to 15% on the import of agri-food products from the U.S.
