“Since the meeting on December 1, the United States and China have engaged in additional rounds of negotiation on these issues, including meetings in March, April, and May of 2019,” the notice read. The Chinese requests covered everything from agreements not to obtain American intellectual property to limiting Chinese subsidies and currency manipulation. In particular, the Chinese objected to how Mr. Trump’s advisers wanted to codify the deal, the people said. The administration wanted the text of the agreement to specify that some of the changes that China had promised would be made in Chinese law. The retreat angered Mr. Trump’s advisers, including Robert Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, prompting Mr. Trump to double down on his tariff threat.

Source: New York Times May 08, 2019 13:33 UTC