US Commerce Secretary says China trade talks are on 'hiatus'

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross claimed that trade talks with China had been put on pause on Wednesday, but denied that the two parties had reached an impasse.

"It appears as though we may be in something of a hiatus now," Ross told CNBC on Wednesday.

Donald Trump's head of commerce's comments came as the White House was piecing together plans for the President to meet with Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, in November.

The US has also been gearing up to release a report that, despite escalated rhetoric about China from Trump and VP Mike Pence, appears less likely to brand Beijing as a currency manipulator after a Treasury report emerged that it no longer appears to be the case.

Discussing the talks between the two global powers, Ross said: "I don't know that I would call it a continued impasse, we are where we are."

Washington fired the first shot in the trade war back in July when it issued a 25% additional levy on $34bn worth of Chinese products and followed up with tariffs on a further $16bn of products in August. China went tit-for-tariff each time.

On 24 September, the White House enacted a 10% tariff – rising to 25% from 2019 – on another $200bn of Chinese imports. China retaliated with tariffs of $60bn on US imports.