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New developments in trade war saga

There were a few new developments over the weekend in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war saga.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation”, said he considers March 1st “a hard deadline” to reach a trade deal with China. If it doesn’t happen by then, Lighthizer said, the administration will follow through on its threat to raise tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods.

Lighthizer also downplayed how much the arrest of a prominent Chinese technology executive in Canada would hurt trade negotiations with China. And, in Beijing, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce also expressed confidence that the arrest would not impact trade talks.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that China intends to announce its first batch of U.S. soybean purchases before the end of the year. Most, if not all, will be destined for state reserves, according to government officials.