LISTEN TO ARTICLE 4:12 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 U.S. President Donald Trump said China is sending “very strong signals” following weekend trade discussions in Argentina, as uncertainty remains over what commitments were made between the two nations. 
 
 “Not to sound naive or anything, but I believe President Xi meant every word of what he said at our long and hopefully historic meeting,” Trump said on Twitter Wednesday. “ALL subjects discussed!” 
 
 Very strong signals being sent by China once they returned home from their long trip, including stops, from Argentina. Not to sound naive or anything, but I believe President Xi meant every word of what he said at our long and hopefully historic meeting. ALL subjects discussed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2018 
 
 Beijing will start to quickly implement specific items where there’s consensus with the U.S. and will push forward on trade negotiations within the 90-day "timetable and road map," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday morning in China. 
 
 Hours later, Bloomberg News reported that officials have begun preparing to restart imports of U.S. soybeans and liquefied natural gas -- the first sign confirming the claims of Trump and the White House that China had agreed to start buying some U.S. products "immediately." Trump retweeted an edited excerpt of that article Wednesday. 
 
 In China, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said that country hopes to speed up talks and is devoted to finding a solution to settle issues. 
 
 Global markets cheered the weekend accord on Monday, only to reverse course Tuesday as doubts emerged over exactly what the world’s two largest economies had agreed on. While Asian and European equities dropped Wednesday in the wake of the biggest slide in stocks on Wall Street since the mid-October downdraft, U.S. futures advanced after the statement from China echoed Trump’s optimism over bilateral trade talks. 
 
 The Ministry of Commerce statement described the meeting with the U.S. as “very successful” and said China is “confident” of implementing the results agreed upon at the talks, but didn’t provide any further details on the outcome. It was the first official confirmation from China that there’s a 90-day window for the talks. 
 
 China and the U.S. announced a truce in their trade war after the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping on Saturday, but that quickly descended into confusion, with both sides announcing different statements on what was agreed. There’s also been confusion just on the U.S. side, with the White House, Trump and his advisers making conflicting statements as to the details of a deal. 
 
 “One of the very exciting things to come out of my meeting with President Xi of China is his promise to me to criminalize the sale of deadly Fentanyl coming into the United States. It will now be considered a ‘controlled substance,”’ Trump said in another tweet Wednesday, subsequently adding that China would see "incredible" results if it imposed the death penalty on "distributors and pushers." 
 
 The White House statement listed what it claimed China had promised to do. The most detailed explanation of what the Chinese say they agreed to came from Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday in Argentina. He told reporters that China had said it was willing to "expand imports according to the needs of its domestic market and people, including importing marketable products from the US to gradually ease the trade imbalances," adding that both sides had agreed to open their markets to each other. 
 
 Chinese officials have been told to take necessary steps for the soybeans and liquefied natural gas purchases, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussions. It wasn’t clear whether the preparations meant China would cut the retaliatory tariffs it imposed on those products, or when the purchases would happen. 
 
 Chinese purchases of the goods collapsed after Beijing imposed tariffs on them in retaliation for U.S. import taxes. 
 
 Bean and Gone China's imports of U.S. soy in October were the lowest for the month since at least 2004 China Customs General Administration 
 
 China also announced an array of punishments that could restrict companies’ access to borrowing and state-funding support over intellectual-property theft. It set out a total of 38 different punishments to be applied to IP violations, starting this month. The document, dated Nov. 21, was released Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission and signed by various government bodies, including the central bank and supreme court. 
 
 Trump, who on Tuesday described himself as "Tariff Man," continues to ratchet up pressure on China, saying there will be a "REAL DEAL with China, or no deal at all." 
 
 We are either going to have a REAL DEAL with China, or no deal at all - at which point we will be charging major Tariffs against Chinese product being shipped into the United States. Ultimately, I believe, we will be making a deal - either now or into the future.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2018 
 
 — With assistance by Yinan Zhao, Steven Yang, Dandan Li, and Terrence Dopp ||||| Mandatory Credit: Photo by JEROME FAVRE/EPA-EFE/REX (9921999b) Pedestrians walk past an electronic board showing the Hang Seng Index figure in Hong Kong, China, 11 October 2018. Hong Kong shares plunged by almost four percent in morning trade on 11 October 2018 as volatile Asian markets were driven down by a US stock rout. Hong Kong stock market dives, China - 11 Oct 2018 (Jerome Favre/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock) 
 
 President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have agreed to meet next month at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires in hopes of resolving their intensifying trade conflict, according to three people briefed on the arrangement who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. 
 
 The planned sit-down — which Beijing sought to forestall further U.S. tariffs — would represent the first direct talks since August, as well as a temporary victory for administration moderates. Yet with U.S.-China relations fraying on an array of issues, few analysts anticipate a major breakthrough. 
 
 “The problem is neither side seems to be confident that it understands the other side’s bottom line negotiating demand,” said Michael Pillsbury, director of the Center on Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute, and an occasional White House adviser. 
 
 [In a first, a Chinese spy is extradited to the U.S. after stealing technology secrets, Justice Department says] 
 
 The agreement to restart negotiations comes three weeks after Trump slapped tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, prompting China to respond with levies on $60 billion in American goods. With the world’s two largest economies trading punches, the International Monetary Fund this week lowered its global growth forecast, citing the trade war’s impact. 
 
 The president has threatened to levy 25 percent tariffs on the remaining $257 billion of Chinese imports if Beijing refuses to eliminate trade and economic policies that Washington regards as discriminatory. 
 
 In an interview with Fox & Friends on Thursday, Trump defended his tariff strategy. 
 
 “It’s had a big impact,” Trump said. “Their economy has gone down very substantially and I have a lot more to do if I want to do it.” 
 
 Xi is expected to push the president to abandon or at least defer plans for further tariffs, according to Pillsbury. 
 
 The meeting represents a short-term triumph for U.S. officials who want to conclude the trade war before economic damage spreads, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council. 
 
 Chinese officials hope they can circumvent hard-liners, such as U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer and Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser, by making a personal appeal to Trump in Buenos Aires. 
 
 “They basically see in this political environment that you can’t do much because President Trump is surrounded by anti-China people,” said Cheng Li, a China scholar at the Brookings Institution. “It’s difficult to know what Trump will do.” 
 
 The deepening divide between the two nations is likely to limit expectations of a breakthrough. Along with the trade dispute, U.S. officials in recent dayshave accused China of military expansionism, human rights violations and planning to interfere in the November congressional elections. 
 
 [China tells Pompeo to stop its ‘misguided’ actions and allegations] 
 
 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo clashed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a visit to Beijing this week, where the two men discussed trade and North Korea’s nuclear program. 
 
 “Given the direction of things, it doesn’t sound too promising,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to the talks. “I suppose they could staunch the bleeding.” 
 
 In his Fox interview, Trump said the Chinese would be forced to bandon their unfair trade practices because they had “lived too well for too long” at Americans’ expense. Per-person income in China last year was $8,827 versus $59,532 in the United States, according to the World Bank. 
 
 During earlier talks, Chinese diplomats offered to buy larger amounts of American agricultural and industrial products to narrow the $375 billion U.S. trade deficit with China, which Trump vows to eliminate. But the president rejected those offers, holding out for more comprehensive changes. 
 
 “There’s evidence that the Chinese elite has acknowledged an intelligence failure about the intentions of the Trump administration,” said Pillsbury, author of “The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America As the Global Superpower.” 
 
 Roughly half of the $635 billion in goods traded between the U.S. and China last year now face higher trade barriers. Some executives say they’re preparing to raise the price of consumer products and lay off workers. 
 
 Jim Hackett, Ford Motor Co.’s chief executive, told Bloomberg recently that Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum had cost the company “about $1 billion in profit.” 
 
 Trump said he aims to force Beijing to end predatory trade practices, including stealing intellectual property from U.S. companies — even if it hurts Americans in the short run. 
 
 Many American business groups support the president’s complaints about China, but oppose the use of tariffs to force an adjustment. The seven weeks that remainbefore the G-20 leaders meet represents an opportunity for working-level officials in the U.S. and China to reach the outlines of a deal. 
 
 “There’s sufficient time between now and the end of November for the two sides to be talking specifics,” said Erin Ennis, senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council. 
 
 The scheduled meeting follows the collapse of talks last month. Beijing had planned to send Vice Premier Liu He, one of Xi’s closest aides, to Washington. But Chinese officials canceled after Trump said he would levy fresh tariffs on Chinese importsand tweeted that China’s markets were “collapsing.” 
 
 Analysts say Xi faces public pressure to project strength while reaching a compromise with the brash American leader. Chinese officials have cast the American leader as a bully out to contain China and have refused to bend. Beijing also says it could replace lost U.S. orders with other trading partners or ramp up domestic production. 
 
 “Trump’s aggression has made it difficult for the Chinese to even come to the bargaining table,” said James Zimmerman, partner in the Beijing office of the international firm Perkins Coie and former chairman of the American U.S. Chamber of Commerce in China. “But we still need an off-ramp to de-escalate the current impasse.” ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 3:01 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 The U.S. is preparing to announce by early December tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if talks next month between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping fail to ease the trade war, three people familiar with the matter said. 
 
 An early-December announcement of a new product list would mean the effective date -- after a 60-day public comment period -- may coincide with China’s Lunar New Year holiday in early February. The list would apply to the imports from the Asian nation that aren’t already covered by previous rounds of tariffs -- which may be $257 billion using last year’s import figures, according to two of the people. 
 
 Trump, right, speaks with Xi in Beijing on Nov. 8, 2017. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg 
 
 U.S. officials are preparing for such a scenario in case a planned Trump-Xi meeting yields no progress on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires in November, according to two of the people, who declined to be identified to discuss internal deliberations. They cautioned that final decisions had not been made. 
 
 Trump, in an interview with Fox News late Monday, said "I think we will make a great deal with China, and it has to be great because they’ve drained our country." 
 
 Any further broadening of tariffs would show the Trump administration’s determination to escalate its trade war with China even as companies complain about the rising costs of tariffs and financial markets continue to be nervous about the global economic fallout. 
 
 Stocks erased gains partly on concern about an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The S&P 500 Index fell as much as 2.1 percent before paring the drop and ending the day down 0.7 percent. 
 
 Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent Tuesday, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1 percent. During a daily briefing, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters the U.S. should adopt a serious attitude and hold talks with China on the basis of equality and good faith instead of making other kinds of noises if it’s sincere about resolving trade frictions. 
 
 What our economists say... "Levies on such a wide range of goods would deal a tangible blow to China’s growth," said Tom Orlik and Chang Shu. 
 
 
 
 Bloomberg Economics estimates that the drag on 2019 GDP growth could be about 1.5 percentage points assuming a tariff rate of 25% on all Chinese imports. Still, multiple factors make such a drop unlikely, including prospects the U.S. might not go so far and China’s various options to sustain growth. 
 
 White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to give specifics when asked about the importance of the meeting. “I’m not going to get ahead of the conversation,” she said in Monday’s press briefing. “You have two of the most powerful leaders in the world. I think that’s consequential no matter how you look at it and we’ll see what happens when they sit down.” 
 
 The U.S. this year has already imposed tariffs on $250 billion in trade with China. Ten percent tariffs on $200 billion in imports that took effect in September are due to increase to 25 percent on Jan. 1. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on the remaining goods imports from China, which last year were worth $505 billion. 
 
 As another option, the White House is also considering excluding trade from the meeting agenda but it is unlikely to cancel it altogether, according to two people familiar with the matter. 
 
 “We are in the middle of a pretty nasty dispute. We’re in a trade dispute -- I want to use that word because it’s a nice, soft word -- but we’re going to win,” Trump said on Saturday at an event in Indiana. “You know why? ‘Cause we always win.” 
 
 — With assistance by Alyza Sebenius, Kevin Hamlin, and Matthew Boesler ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 4:34 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 The U.S. and China are trying to restart talks aimed at averting a full-blown trade war between the world’s two largest economies, two people familiar with the effort said. 
 
 Representatives of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are having private conversations as they look for ways to reengage in negotiations, according to the people who spoke about the deliberations on condition of anonymity. 
 
 They cautioned that a specific timetable, the issues to be discussed and the format for talks aren’t finalized, but added there was agreement among the principals that more discussions need to take place. 
 
 Negotiations to resolve the dispute have been stalled for weeks, with both sides refusing to budge. High-level U.S. talks on the Trump administration’s trade posture toward China are taking place this week, according to a third person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. 
 
 U.S. stocks closed higher as the prospects for an easing in trade tensions lifted industrial shares, with Boeing Co., Caterpillar Inc. and 3M Co. all adding more than 1 percent. 
 
 The next wave of U.S. tariffs is set to kick in as soon as Wednesday, with the possible imposition of duties on another $16 billion of Chinese imports. The implementation could be delayed for weeks as the administration works out the details of which products it will target. Officials in Beijing have vowed to respond with the same amount of tariffs on U.S. products. 
 
 One person familiar with the internal deliberations said the U.S. is trying to secure certain concessions and if China agrees, it is possible the U.S. would back off additional tariffs. 
 
 Complicating Mnuchin’s efforts is a harder line taken by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has jurisdiction over the U.S.’s 301 investigation that sparked the tariffs. That case concluded China was stealing American technology and tariffs were needed to offset the damage. 
 
 A U.S. Treasury spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment. 
 
 ‘Chronic Problem’ 
 
 U.S. and Chinese officials have given little recent indication in public that a restart to negotiations might be in the offing. Lighthizer said last week that trade tensions with China are a “chronic problem,” while China’s representative at the World Trade Organization accused the U.S. of “extortion.” 
 
 The two sides held three rounds of formal talks, beginning with a delegation to Beijing led by Mnuchin in May. After Liu visited Washington later that month, the nations released a joint statement pledging to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, among other things. But within days, President Donald Trump himself backed away from the deal, saying talks would “probably have to use a different structure.” 
 
 Negotiations broke off after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports this month, a move the Chinese said would void any promises they’d made in negotiations. Beijing responded in kind with its own tariffs. 
 
 Trump’s mission to reduce the U.S. trade deficit via the threat of tariffs has brought him into conflict with China as well as U.S. allies, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global trade war the International Monetary Fund has warned may undermine the strongest economic upswing in years. 
 
 ZTE Deal 
 
 Chinese and U.S. officials have struggled to find a starting place for a new round of talks. After taking a hard line on Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp., the Trump administration this month finished a deal that allowed the company to stay in business. Trump said the pact was a personal favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
 
 In exchange for the U.S. letting ZTE survive, Chinese regulators were expected to approve a deal between San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. and rival chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. 
 
 Mnuchin was among the Cabinet officials involved in a last-minute effort early last week to get the Qualcomm-NXP deal approved before the companies vowed to walk away from it on July 25, the people said. Mnuchin’s efforts were unsuccessful and Qualcomm scrapped its $44 billion bid for NXP. 
 
 The people familiar with the U.S.-China dispute said the U.S. has privately expressed dismay to the highest levels of the Chinese government that the deal fell through. 
 
 Politburo Shift 
 
 In a sign the trade standoff is reverberating through Chinese politics, the Politburo signaled Tuesday that policy makers will focus more on supporting economic growth amid risks from a campaign to reduce debt and the dispute with Trump. 
 
 The communique, which followed a meeting of the country’s 25 most senior leaders led by Xi, said the nation’s campaign to reduce leverage will continue at a measured pace while improving economic policies to make them more forward-looking, flexible and effective in the second half of 2018. 
 
 — With assistance by Andrew Mayeda
– Though US markets are closed Wednesday in honor of former President George HW Bush, after Tuesday's 800-point plunge investors will be looking for hints as to what to expect Thursday morning, and all eyes are on China. Tuesday's sell-off was sparked by uncertainty over what exactly Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to do in their Saturday meeting, and President Trump championed optimism in a Wednesday tweet, expressing his belief that China will push forward with a cease fire on trade. "Very strong signals being sent by China once they returned home from their long trip, including stops, from Argentina. Not to sound naive or anything, but I believe President Xi meant every word of what he said at our long and hopefully historic meeting. ALL subjects discussed!" The latest: The AP reports China's Commerce Ministry did say on its website that it would begin "implementing specific issues on which consensus has been reached," but the vague statement included no details. Bloomberg gets a little firmer, reporting Chinese officials are getting ready to start importing soybeans and liquefied natural gas from the US again, which it sees as an indication that the administration's claims that China will "immediately" start importing some American products again are true. And "demand for those products is immense," notes the Wall Street Journal. Still, questions remain regarding timeline, whether the retaliatory tariffs on those products will be lifted, and how much China will buy. Bloomberg also notes the ministry's statement said China will indeed take part in trade talks within the 90-day "timetable and road map," marking confirmation from China that a 90-day window has been established for the negotiations. US officials say the 90 days started Saturday; China didn't specify a start date. The Journal reports on another possible concession that's moving forward: China's supreme court and relevant government agencies this week announced 38 punishments for companies that commit intellectual property theft, a pain point for the US that China has thus far not done much to address.