Trump administration cancels meeting with Chinese officials amid lack of progress on trade issues - FT

Citing people briefed on trade negotiations with China, the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration cancelled a planned meeting with Chinese officials later this month amid a lack of progress on two key trade issues.

"US officials cancelled this week’s face-to-face meetings with Mr Wang, a vice-minister of commerce, and Mr Liao, a vice-minister of finance, because of a lack of progress on “forced” technology transfers and potentially far-reaching “structural” reforms to China’s economy," the FT wrote. "According to the people briefed on the stalemate, Mr Xi’s negotiators are refusing to alter their long-standing position that foreign companies are not forced to transfer technology to Chinese companies." 

Major equity indexes, which were already under pressure, extended losses on this report and the Nasdaq Composite was last down 2% on the day while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were losing 1.45% and 1.53%, respectively.