The U.S. and China will resume trade talks next week ahead of the looming March first deadline in their 90-day trade war truce.
The White House announced a time frame for the talks to take place in Beijing. It said that lower-level officials will kick off the meetings on Monday with the American side led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish.
Higher-level talks will take place Thursday and Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Reuters said that U.S. negotiators are preparing to press China on longstanding demands that it reform how it treats American companies’ intellectual property.
The most recent set of negotiations concluded in Washington last week without a deal.
The two sides are trying to hammer out an agreement before the March first deadline when U.S. tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to increase from ten to 25 percent.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he did not plan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before that deadline, dampening hopes that a swift trade deal could be reached.