CHINA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Senior Chinese and American officials concluded two days of negotiations late Friday [5-4-18] afternoon with no deal and no date set for further talks, as the United States stepped up its demands for Chinese concessions to avert a potential trade war. The American negotiating team, which included Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the United States trade representative, Robert E. Lighthizer, headed for the airport after the talks and did not release a statement. But a list of demands that the group brought into the meeting called for reducing the United States’ trade gap with China by $200 billion over the next two years and a halt on Chinese subsidies for advanced manufacturing sectors. The demands, which spread on Chinese social media and were confirmed by a person close to the negotiations, suggest that both sides have hardened their positions this week despite the two days of talks. Senior Chinese officials and their advisers sent a deliberate message to the West during a three-day seminar that ended on Monday that the days of conciliation by Beijing were over.”
-Keith Bradsher, “U.S.-China Trade Talks End With Strong Demands, but Few Signs of a Deal,” The New York Times online, May 4, 2018