[Analytics] Hamburger diplomacy: how China and the United States showed goodwill in trade war talks

Senior Chinese official says delegations from both countries are working around the clock for a deal to scrap extra duties on billions of dollars in imports. Vice commerce minister does not respond to question about whether expected summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has been delayed. Josephine Ma, Orange Wang and Keegan Elmer specially for the South China Morning Post.

Trade talks in Washington last month were so intense that Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had to skip the usual formal lunch one day and dine in on takeaway, a Chinese official has revealed for the first time.

Vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen, a member of the Chinese delegation, said on Saturday that both sides pressed on with the negotiations for four days – through the weekend, heavy snow and a US government shutdown.

In a gesture of goodwill and desire for common ground, the heads of the two delegations ordered food representative of the other’s culture.

“Vice-Premier Liu He had a hamburger and Lighthizer had stir-fried chicken with eggplant. Neither of them had coffee or tea, but drank boiled water. You have to look for common ground,” Wang said in Beijing on the sidelines of the annual gathering of China’s peak legislative and advisory bodies.

“One day [in Washington] it was snowing and the US government had closed. But the commerce and trade delegations were still negotiating. The negotiations were also extended from two days to four days.”

Wang said both sides were working on an agreement to eliminate extra Chinese and US tariffs imposed since the start of a trade war between the two countries last year.

The US imposed three rounds of tariffs on more than US$250 billion of Chinese goods. Beijing hit back with tariffs on US$110 billion in US products. US President Donald Trump also threatened duties on another US$267 billion worth of imports from China but on February 24, the last day of Liu’s trip to Washington, Trump extended the deadline for the imposition of those duties.

On Friday, US ambassador to China Terry Branstad said a widely expected summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida had been delayed because the deal was still under discussion.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow also said overnight that the meeting could slip into April.

Wang did not respond to a question about a delay to the summit, saying instead that he was optimistic about progress.

“For the prospects for the next step, I see hope,” Wang said. “The two delegations are still working on the documents for a trade deal day and night now.”

The delegations met in Beijing on the first day after China’s week-long Lunar New Year holiday. Three days later the Chinese delegation flew to Washington to continue the talks.

Wang said the delegations had made “concrete advances” in the negotiations and the talks were still in high gear “in order to remove all additional tariffs … so both sides can get back on the normal track”.