AFP, Washington :
The gathering of world finance ministers began with heightened anxiety about the potential damage a US-China trade war could do to the economic recovery but ended Saturday with a door open to negotiations.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who has been urging countries to avoid damaging protectionism, said this weekend’s spring meeting had “made progress towards dialogue.”
And shortly after her comments, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced he was considering a trip to Beijing to hold talks on the trade dispute, a respite after weeks in which tensions had ratcheted ever higher.
China said on Sunday it welcomed the suggestion of a visit. Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have cast a shadow over this week’s gathering of finance ministers, given concerns a trade war would undercut the global recovery.
President Donald Trump last month approved steep tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, while Beijing has slapped duties on key US agricultural exports and has threatened to do likewise for the sensitive American soybean industry.
The gathering of world finance ministers began with heightened anxiety about the potential damage a US-China trade war could do to the economic recovery but ended Saturday with a door open to negotiations.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who has been urging countries to avoid damaging protectionism, said this weekend’s spring meeting had “made progress towards dialogue.”
And shortly after her comments, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced he was considering a trip to Beijing to hold talks on the trade dispute, a respite after weeks in which tensions had ratcheted ever higher.
China said on Sunday it welcomed the suggestion of a visit. Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have cast a shadow over this week’s gathering of finance ministers, given concerns a trade war would undercut the global recovery.
President Donald Trump last month approved steep tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, while Beijing has slapped duties on key US agricultural exports and has threatened to do likewise for the sensitive American soybean industry.
