Meanwhile, amidst President Trump saying he is unlikely to meet with his Chinese counterpart at the end of this month,... Washington and Beijing's efforts to resolve their trade dispute continue.
Park Ji-won reports.
The White House announced on Friday that a new round of trade talks between the U.S. and China will take place next week.
Talks between lower-level officials will begin on Monday,.. to prepare for senior-level talks slated for two days on Thursday and Friday,... with the U.S. top trade negotiator,.... Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his Chinese counterpart,... Vice Premier Liu He, leading the talks.
This comes after last week's negotiations held in Washington,... between the top trade negotiators of the two countries... ended without a result.
It is expected that the two sides will lock horns once again, especially over the issue of intellectual property rights.
Agriculture and energy related matters are also expected to be on the table,... as the two countries have been engaged in trade rifts in those sectors.
If they fail to reach an agreement by March 1st,... a hefty amount of tariffs will be imposed,... on some two-hundred billion dollars worth of Chinese imports.
The U.S. is scheduled to increase its tariffs on Chinese imports to 25 percent from the current 10 percent,... although Washington hinted it could extend the deadline,... if the bilateral trade talks are progressing.
Adding to the pressure on this round of talks to create tangible results,... U.S. President Trump said,... he does not plan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before that March 1st deadline,... making any top-down breakthrough deal between the two leaders less likely.
The trade war between the U.S. and China has been going on since last year,... as the two countries hurled huge tariff threats towards each other.
Last December,.. Trump and Xi jointly decided to suspend imposing new tariffs for 90 days,... to resolve the escalation between the two economic superpowers.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
