Phase One With China

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Ministry of Commerce says U.S. and Chinese trade envoys have discussed strengthening coordination of economic policies. The announcement gave no details of the phone meeting held Tuesday as part of the “Phase 1” truce aimed at ending a tariff war between the two biggest global economies that has disrupted worldwide trade. President Xi Jinping’s government has lobbied Washington since at least 2016 to coordinate macroeconomic policies. The latest meeting included Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Under the truce signed in January, both governments agreed to suspend additional penalties on each other’s goods in a fight that erupted in 2018 over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus.