WASHINGTON: US officials hope China will reverse its decision to backtrack on commitments it made in the effort to settle the ongoing trade conflict, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday.

US and Chinese officials held high-level discussions by telephone this week and last as they try to re-start negotiations. The talks collapsed in May after Washington accused Beijing of reneging on core issues it had agreed to earlier this year. “This is a long, involved process. The fundamental question now, though, is will they go back to the point where they were before they changed their mind?” Ross told Fox Business Network on Wednesday.

“That’s the important issue right now, and that’s what’s being probed in telephone conversations.” At a meeting in Japan last month, US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to cease further hostilities in the year-long trade war while the two sides worked to revive negotiations.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2019