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A visit by Chinese trade officials to two American farming states, part of an effort by a larger delegation visiting Washington to get bilateral trade talks on track, has been cancelled because of a changed travel schedule, according to an official at the Montana Farm Bureau Federation.
The head of the group that was scheduled to visit Montana and Nebraska now plans to return to Beijing earlier than planned. News of the cancellation came as bilateral talks in Washington, which US President Donald Trump said were "making a lot of progress", continued for a second day.
Vice-Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun was heading up the team of negotiators that was supposed to visit Montana for two days starting on Monday and then move on to Nebraska, part of the larger effort by the team visiting Washington, headed by China's vice-minister for finance, Liao Min.
"What I was told by [an official at the Chinese embassy in Washington] was that according to an updated agenda for the Chinese delegation that Vice-Minister Han and his team had to return to China earlier than previously planned," Rebecca Colnar, the Montana Farm Bureau Federation's director of public relations, said on Friday. "We had not gotten into any planning" because farm bureau officials had only been notified about the visit a day earlier.
Chinese embassy officials declined to comment on Han's planned visit or its cancellation.
Liao's delegation was in Washington to prepare for a face-to-face meeting next month between Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters on Thursday that some members of the Chinese delegation would visit the US farming regions next week.
"They want to see the production of agriculture," Perdue said in Washington. "I think they want to build goodwill."
China's vice-minister for finance, Liao Min, leaves deputy-level talks in Washington on Thursday. Photo: AFP alt=China's vice-minister for finance, Liao Min, leaves deputy-level talks in Washington on Thursday. Photo: AFP
While lauding progress in the talks with Liao, Trump also held out the possibility that a deal might not be reached before the US presidential election in November 2020, sending bearish signals to the market.
"I don't think I need [a trade deal with China] before the election," Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. "China's being affected very badly. We're not, we're not being affected."