CHINA/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A restart of trade talks between the United States and China ended on Thursday [8-23-18] with little sign of progress as Washington moved ahead with additional tariffs and President Trump met with legislators to discuss a new law aimed at curbing Chinese investment. The bilateral talks, while low level, were the first formal discussions between the two countries since the United States imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods and China retaliated with its own levies on American products. Still, administration officials continually played down the potential for resolution out of these talks, which came during a week in which the United States placed tariffs on another $16 billion worth of imports and trade officials began six days of hearings on proposed tariffs affecting an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods. A person familiar with the talks described them as a detailed discussion of China’s policies and the difficulties facing the Chinese economy. This person described the tone of the conversations as ‘frank’ and said the team from the United States spoke with one voice. However, there were no signs of an imminent breakthrough, and no further talks have been scheduled at this time. In a statement on Thursday night, the White House reiterated the general areas of concern about the trade relationship that the Trump administration has been focused on for months.”
–Ana Swanson and Alan Rappepor, “Chill Remains Between China and United States in Latest Trade Talks,” The New York Times online, August 23, 2018