US and China in talks as trade war looms

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, Vice-Premier Liu He, would meet a high-level US trade delegation in Beijing this week, the government said on Wednesday, amid a festering dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
China, which denies it coerces such technology transfers, has threatened retaliation in equal measure, including tariffs on US soybeans and aircraft.
In a brief statement, China’s commerce ministry welcomed the delegation’s trip to Beijing, set for Thursday and Friday. It said Liu would meet its members to “exchange views” on issues of mutual concern about Sino-US trade and business ties. It did not elaborate.

Liu, a Harvard-trained economist, went to Washington in late February for trade talks, but achieved no breakthrough.
Instead, just as he arrived, the Trump administration announced global steel and aluminium tariffs aimed at punishing China for overproduction of steel that harm US steel makers.