Senator Grassley calls down on US-China trade talks despite optimism

The United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer did not see much progress made on structural issues during trade talks with China last week, Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, who held a meeting with him, said on Tuesday. Grassley said Lighthizer commented very positively on China's soybean purchases, which resumed in modest amounts last month following a 90-day truce in a trade war between Beijing and Washington that has disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods. Grassley said Chinese officials were due to visit Washington for further trade talks in a couple of weeks.