Washington (AFP)

Trade talks between the United States and China resumed Thursday in Washington in the most total uncertainty about the outcome of such negotiations that are held a few days before the entry into force of new punitive tariffs on 250 billion dollars of Chinese goods.

Robert Lighthizer, the US Trade Representative (USTR) and Chief Negotiator, Liu He, the Chinese Vice Premier, and Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, appeared Thursday morning on the steps of the USTR building, have found AFP journalists.

Despite the broad smile and warm handshakes exchanged, their litigation topics are many: Washington demands that Beijing abolish business practices deemed "unfair" such as forced technology transfer or subsidies to Chinese companies.

So far, the Chinese government has been inflexible on these crucial points, despite the imposition of tariffs that affect the Chinese economy.

On Tuesday, tariffs will have to rise from 25% to 30% on 250 billion goods from the Asian giant.

Beijing, however, agreed to buy more agricultural products, which fueled the rumor of a partial deal, which President Donald Trump seemed to reject Monday saying his preference for "a global deal".

Negotiators have the difficult task of finding the way to end the trade war between the world's two leading economies, which is increasingly affecting global growth.

There is nothing official about the agenda and even less about the current state of negotiations.

On Thursday, press reports indicated that negotiations would only take one day when they are scheduled for at least two days. But they have not been confirmed by the services of the USTR solicited by AFP.

The talks are also polluted by the US economic sanctions on the Chinese giant Huawei.

From Beijing, Geng Shuang, spokesman for the Chinese foreign minister, once again deplored "the use of state power by the United States to suppress Chinese companies such as Huawei."

"American practices are neither honorable nor ethical, they are also a denial of the principles of the market economy that the United States deplores constantly," he also commented.

Beijing urges Washington "to put an end to unjustified sanctions", "to treat Chinese companies fairly, impartially (...) and to promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation, not the other way around" ".

© 2019 AFP