After the US and China increased tariffs on each other on September 1st 2019, both sides agreed to continue their trade talks in October. This pattern has been in place since the first tariffs were applied, followed by talks and more tariffs. It has not produced any positive results and the distrust between both parties has only increased. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, Vice Premier Liu He agreed during a phone call earlier this morning to meet US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in October. The USTR confirmed that trade talks are scheduled for October in Washington, but no date has been specified as of yet.

Expectations are that the talks will no bring the US and China any closer to resolving the trade war which was started by US President Donald Trump. Distrust has only grown and neither side wants to look weak in front of their home base. China is know to take the long-term view and has shown signs that it may want to wait out the US election and count on its own domestic economy. Zhou Xiaoming, former official with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, added “Neither China nor the US want to be blamed by the rest of world for escalating the trade war and damaging the world economy. But the talks don’t mean the two sides will inch closer or that their stances soften.”