U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to Shanghai Tuesday to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. Mnuchin said the U.S. team will be in Shanghai for two days.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement the officials will "continue negotiations aimed at improving the trade relationship between the United States and China... The discussions will cover a range of issues, including intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services, the trade deficit, and enforcement," Grisham said.
As for the reasoning behind Shanghai being chosen as opposed to Beijing, Mnuchin said on CNBC, “The reason why we’re going to Shanghai is that the host country, China, has invited us there. There’s a significance to them of the Shanghai Communiqué and the symbolism, obviously, of that important agreement. So, hopefully I’ll take that as good news that we’ll be making progress next week.“
The Shanghai Communiqué was a document that set the stage for normalized diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China during President Richard Nixon’s visit to the country in 1972.
Chinese President Xi Jinping could make an appearance in Shanghai and meet with the visiting U.S. officials, some sources speculate.
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