Chinese official expects trade talks with US ‘in the coming days’

China’s Commerce Ministry announced Thursday that officials in Washington and Beijing have agreed to hold talks in the near future regarding their nations’ ongoing trade war.

Ministry spokesman Gao Feng confirmed the plans in a briefing, according to Reuters, but did not provide a firm timeline, saying only the meeting would occur “in the coming days.” 

The meeting will give the two countries an opportunity to evaluate the first phase of a trade deal, which took effect in February. Both sides paused additional tariffs on each other’s goods and China agreed to increase purchases of U.S. farm and manufactured goods.

The agreement called for additional talks to be held after six months, but those negotiations were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Associated Press. 

The deal was hailed as a breakthrough after a bitter trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies, though relations between Washington and Beijing have soured in recent months over a string of issues, including a new security law in Hong Kong, disputes over 5G, accusations over the coronavirus and more. 

President Trump told reporters Tuesday that he had postponed a scheduled review of the trade deal over frustration with Beijing’s handling of the pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China.

“I postponed talks with China. You know why? I don’t want to deal with them now. I don’t want to deal with them now. With what they did to this country and to the world? I don’t want to talk to China right now,” he said. “They should have stopped it.”