US-China trade war: Trust erosion makes prospect of any term deal remote

The emerging stalemate in US-China trade negotiations grew out of an earlier deadlock over how and when to remove existing American tariffs that provoked Beijing to threaten to walk away from talks, highlighting what people briefed on the discussions say are widening fundamental differences between the two sides.

Both the US and China have worked hard since the end of discussions on Friday to project calm and emphasize that they plan to continue negotiations in the hopes of avoiding a tumble in markets and broader economic damage.

But that facade masks what people close to the talks say has been a bigger