High level US-China trade negotiations started in the Diaoyutai state guest house in Beijing today, involving US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. Ahead of that, Mnuchin said he’s “looking forward to discussions today”. There was no elaborate and so far, there is no news leaked regarding the talks.
Trump indicated earlier this week that he’s willing to let the March 1 trade truce deadline slide a little bit. Trump further added that the talks are “going along very well” and the Chinese are “showing us tremendous respect.” Bloomberg reported that Trump is indeed considering to extend the deadline by 60 days, after rejecting the initial request by China of 90 days extension. But the rumor is not confirmed.
Yen trades generally lower on the news while Australian Dollar strengthens. But reactions from the stock markets are rather muted. Currently, Hong Kong HSI is down -0.4% and China SSE is down -0.04%.
