(Bloomberg) -- Representatives from the Trump administration and China spoke about their phase-one trade deal and said that both sides saw progress and are committed to its success.
The two countries addressed steps that China has taken as a part of the deal such as ensuring greater protection for intellectual property rights and removing impediments to American companies in the areas of financial services and agriculture, the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement Monday.
Trade between the world’s largest economies has emerged as a rare area of cooperation as the relationship sours on a number of other fronts ranging from tech security to Hong Kong and the pandemic response. Yet Beijing is far behind where it needs to be to meet its promises to increase purchases of agricultural, energy and manufactured goods from the U.S.
“The parties also discussed the significant increases in purchases of U.S. products by China as well as future actions needed to implement the agreement,” the statement said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with Chinese officials on Monday evening Washington time, according to the statement.
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