U.S. President Donald Trump meets China's Liu He

SHANGHAI: Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who is leading a trade delegation in Washington, has met U.S. President Donald Trump, state broadcaster China Central Television said on Friday.

The second round of talks between senior Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts started at the U.S. Treasury on Thursday morning, focused on cutting China’s U.S. trade surplus and improving intellectual property protections.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had earlier said Trump would meet Liu later on Thursday.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on goods worth up to $150 billion to combat what he says is Beijing’s misappropriation of U.S. technology through joint venture requirements and other policies.

Beijing has threatened equal retaliation, including tariffs on some of its largest U.S. imports, including aircraft, soybeans, and autos.

A recent development has come to light as China is offering U.S. President Donald Trump a package of trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods aimed at cutting the U.S. trade deficit with China by up to $200 billion a year, U.S. officials familiar with the proposal said.

News of the offer came during the first of two days of U.S.-China trade talks in Washington focused on resolving tariff threats between the world’s two largest economies. But it was not immediately clear how the total value was determined.

One of the sources said U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co (BA.N) would be a major beneficiary of the Chinese offer if Trump were to accept it. Boeing is the largest U.S. exporter and already sells about a quarter of its commercial aircraft to Chinese customers.

Another person familiar with the talks said the package may include some elimination of Chinese tariffs already in place on about $4 billion worth of U.S. farm products including fruit, nuts, pork, wine, and sorghum.