Chinese and U.S. trade envoys agreed to keep talking on remaining issues with their “phase one” deal, after a phone call on Tuesday.
This is according to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua.
Beijing and Washington have been locked in a trade war for months and are now negotiating a preliminary agreement, often referred to as “phase one,” of a trade deal between the two nations.
Chief negotiators, including Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu Heand U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, discussed solving issues regarding each other’s “core concerns,” the agency said.
Xinhua said that they reached consensus on “properly resolving related issues” and agreed to maintain communication on remaining issues.
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Despite nearing an agreement in principle, it remains uncertain whether a partial trade deal could be signed in the near future.
China is pushing for a reduction of U.S. tariffs, while U.S. President Donald Trump has so far only promised to hold off raising tariffs further.
The Herald Earlier published that a forecast by the International Energy Agency for slower global oil demand growth post-2025 also weighed on the market.
Global oil demand is expected to grow by 1 million barrels per day (BPD) on average to 2025, but is forecast to slow to 100,000 bpd a year from then on as fuel efficiency improves and more electric vehicles hit the road, the IEA said in its annual World Energy Outlook for the period to 2040.