Livemint : Aug 25, 2020, 06:17 PM
Washington: Top Chinese and US negotiators spoke on the phone Tuesday about their phase one economic deal, Beijing's commerce ministry said, amid soaring tensions between the two sides on several fronts.The US and China signed the accord in January, bringing a partial truce in their lingering trade war, and obliging Beijing to import an additional $200 billion in American products over two years, ranging from cars to machinery and oil to farm products.But the COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on the agreement and China's purchases of those goods has been lagging.Vice Premier Liu He spoke with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the phone, and both sides "agreed to create conditions and atmosphere to continue to push forward the implementation of the phase-one of the China-US economic and trade agreement", the ministry said.Beijing also said the two countries had a "constructive dialogue on strengthening the coordination of the macroeconomic policies of the two countries".The phase one deal called for officials to hold a "check-in" every six months, although trade talks that were expected earlier this month appeared to have been postponed.Confirmation of the call came as TikTok, owned by Chinese parent company Bytedance, filed a lawsuit challenging the US government's crackdown on the popular video app, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat.US President Donald Trump in recent weeks has stepped up rhetoric against China ahead of what is expected to be a tough re-election fight, raising questions about the deal's fate as well as the possibility of a phase two agreement.