WASHINGTON: US and Chinese officials are restarting negotiations in an effort to resolve the year-long trade dispute, with two days of talks due next week, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.
The dialogue in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday will be the first face-to-face meetings since negotiations collapsed in May after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of reneging on its commitments.
Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will lead the US delegation.
The White House said in a statement the talks, with Vice Premier Liu He, will “cover a range of issues, including intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services, the trade deficit and enforcement.”
Senior officials have spoken by phone twice in the last two weeks in the bid to jump start the negotiations.
Mnuchin said on CNBC he hopes to make progress but added there are “a lot of issues” pending so he expects another round of talks would follow in Washington.
At a meeting in Japan last month, US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to cease further hostilities in the year-long trade war while the two sides worked to revive negotiations.
The countries have imposed tariffs on $360 billion in two-way trade and Trump has threatened even more punishing duties on Chinese goods.
That truce halted Trump’s plan to hit China with another round of punishing tariffs on $300 billion in goods. The International Monetary Fund warned that that step added to existing tariffs would cut global economic growth by 0.5 percent.
Washington is demanding Beijing end theft of American technology, and open its economy further to imported goods and foreign investment.
Stock markets were cheered when word of possible talks emerged Tuesday but the good news was overshadowed Wednesday by disappointing earnings results from Boeing and Caterpillar — which specifically pointing to weakening demand in China.
The trade dispute has become enmeshed in a national security conflict that led Washington to impose tough sanctions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei, sharply curtailing the company’s operations angering Beijing.
The Trump administration has put Huawei on its so-called Entity List, which means US companies need a license to supply it with US technology.
Huawei — a leader in next-generation 5G wireless technology — remains barred from developing 5G networks in the United States, and the Trump administration is trying to convince its allies to do the same.
Mnuchin implied that the Huawei case is on a separate track from the trade talks. The Commerce Department is looking at applications for waivers from the sanctions.
He also downplayed concerns about links between Google and Beijing.
“We’re not aware of Google working with the Chinese government in a way that raises concerns,” Mnuchin said.
“They assured us that there is very, very limited work. The only work they’re doing is some minimal open source work.”
Trump last week said he wants his administration to “take a look” into whether Google has been working with the Chinese government — an allegation swiftly denied by the US Internet giant.
US, China to resume trade talks next week
US, China to resume trade talks next week
- The dialogue in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday will be the first face-to-face meetings since negotiations collapsed in May
- Stock markets were cheered when word of possible talks emerged Tuesday
New Murabba seeks contractors for Mukaab Towers fit-outs: MEED
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba Development Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, has issued a request for information to gauge the market for modular and offsite fit-out solutions for its flagship Mukaab development, MEED reported on Wednesday.
The RFI was released on Jan. 26, with submissions due by Feb. 11. NMDC has also scheduled a market engagement meeting during the first week of February to discuss potential solutions with prospective contractors.
Sources close to the project told MEED that NMDC is “seeking experienced suppliers and contractors to advise on the feasibility, constraints, and execution strategy for using non-load-bearing modular systems for the four corner towers framing the Mukaab structure.” The feedback gathered from these discussions will be incorporated into later design and procurement decisions.
The four towers — two residential (North and South) and two mixed-use (East and West) — are integral to the Mukaab’s architectural layout. Each tower is expected to rise approximately 375 meters and span over 80 stories. Key modular elements under consideration include bathroom pods, kitchen pods, dressing room modules, panelized steel partition systems, and other offsite-manufactured fit-out solutions.
Early works on the Mukaab were completed last year, with NMDC preparing to award the estimated $1 billion contract for the main raft works. This was highlighted in a presentation by NMDC’s chief project delivery officer on Sept. 9, 2025, during the Future Projects Forum in Riyadh.
Earlier this month, US-based Parsons Corp. was awarded a contract by NMDC to provide design and construction technical support. Parsons will act as the lead design consultant for infrastructure, delivering services covering public buildings, infrastructure, landscaping, and the public realm at New Murabba. The firm will also support the development of the project’s downtown experience, which spans 14 million sq. meters of residential, workplace, and entertainment space.
The Parsons contract follows NMDC’s October 2025 agreements with three other US-based engineering firms for design work across the development. New York-headquartered Kohn Pedersen Fox was appointed to lead early design for the first residential community, while Aecom and Jacobs were selected as lead design consultants for the Mukaab district.
In August 2025, NMDC signed a memorandum of understanding with Falcons Creative Group, another US-based firm, to develop the creative vision and immersive experiences for the Mukaab project. Meanwhile, Beijing-based China Harbour Engineering Co. completed the excavation works for the Mukaab, and UAE-headquartered HSSG Foundation Contracting executed the foundation works.
