BEIJING: American and Chinese trade negotiators met on Wednesday for talks on their bruising tariff war after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US side might be moving toward a decision on whether to make a deal with Beijing.

Wednesday’s atmosphere appeared amicable. Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, along with China’s economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, smiled for photos and shook hands after their one-day meeting.

But they said nothing to reporters and no details were announced after the talks at a Chinese government guest house. Both governments have said they were making progress. That has helped to calm jittery financial markets.

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the discussions “remain focused toward making substantial progress on important structural issues” and the talks would continue next week in Washington.

The US wants China to roll back industry development plans it says are based in part on stolen technology and that violate its market-opening commitments.

Mnuchin said earlier that Wednesday’s meeting and talks next week in Washington would help American officials decide whether to recommend President Donald Trump agree to a deal with Beijing.

Trump raised US duties on $250 billion of Chinese imports last year in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. Beijing retaliated by imposing penalties on $110bn of US goods.

The talks also cover exchange rates and possible measures to narrow China’s multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States.

A sticking point has been American insistence on an enforcement mechanism with penalties to ensure that Beijing sticks to its commitments. Washington also wants to keep tariffs on Chinese imports to maintain leverage over Beijing.

Mnuchin told Fox Business Network on Monday that an enforcement mechanism just “needs a little bit of fine tuning.” US officials and businesses say China has failed to keep past promises concerning its trade practices.

Critics worry any agreement might hurt other countries by shifting Chinese demand away from them. They also worry it might marginalise the World Trade Organisation, which is meant to enforce free trade rules for everybody.

Fed leaves key policy rate unchanged

The Latest on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting (all times local): 2 p.m.

The Federal Reserve is leaving its key interest rate unchanged and signaling that no rate hikes are likely in coming months, amid signs of renewed economic health but unusually low inflation.

The Fed left its benchmark rate which influences many consumer and business loans in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. The central bank’s low-rate policy has helped boost stock prices and supported a steadily growing economy whose outlook has brightened since late last year.

The Fed did make a technical adjustment to trim the interest it pays banks on reserves to 2.35 percent as a way to keep its benchmark rate inside its approved range.

The decision Wednesday to make no change in the policy rate policy had been expected despite renewed pressure from President Donald Trump for the Fed to cut rates aggressively to help accelerate economic growth.

The Fed statement had a more upbeat view of the economy, saying that “economic activity rose at a solid rate.” In March, the Fed said that it appeared growth had slowed from the fourth quarter.

Gold holds steady

Gold prices were little changed on Wednesday ahead of Federal Reserve’s latest policy announcement later in the day, while rejuvenating global equities made safety assets less lucrative to investors.

Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent to $1,282.56 per ounce as of 10:40 am EDT (1440 GMT), having hit a session low of $1,277.38 earlier in the session. US gold futures fell 0.1pc to $1,284.40 an ounce.

Investors are awaiting the end of a two-day meeting by the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), after the central bank ended its three-year policy tightening drive last month, ditching projections for any interest rate hikes this year.

Among other metals, silver fell to more than four month low at $14.68 in the session, while platinum prices dropped 1pc to $876.75, its lowest in nearly a month. Palladium slipped more than 5pc to $1,310.03 an ounce, the level last seen on Jan 25.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2019