(Bloomberg) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead a delegation to Washington starting on April 3, close on the heels of a visit to Beijing by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the White House said.
The new details revealed Saturday about the timing of Liu's visit offered a new hint of optimism as talks on a trade agreement continue between the world's two largest economies.
The two rounds of discussions come after a hoped-for meeting in late March or early April between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was postponed. The principal-level visit to Beijing that begins March 28 will also include Lighthizer deputy Jeffrey Gerrish and other USTR and Treasury officials, according to the statement.
Read more: U.S. Said to See China Trade Pushback as Trump Touts Talks
Trump said this week that he intends to continue tariffs on Chinese imports until he's sure Beijing is complying with any trade deal.
“We're not talking about removing them, we're talking about leaving them for a substantial period of time, because we have to make sure that if we do the deal with China that China lives by the deal,” the president told reporters on March 20.
Trump's remarks clouded prospects for the intense negotiations to lead to a near-term removal of about $360 billion in tariffs China and the U.S. have imposed on each other's imports.
--With assistance from Andrew Mayeda, Kevin Hamlin and Jennifer Jacobs.
To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Ian Fisher
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