On The Lookout For A Phone Call

A quick reminder that we could get some commentary re: a high level phone call between U.S. & Chinese officials at some point during the Asia-Pac session. Wednesday saw a BBG source report suggest that "U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is expected to hold her first discussions with her Chinese counterpart this week. Tai is scheduled to speak to officials from Beijing as early as Wednesday evening U.S. time," although the report noted that the timing of the call is still fluid. One of the sources contributing to the story highlighted that "a staff-level phone call took place Tuesday night Washington time. During the call, the Chinese stressed the importance of tariff rollbacks as a necessary component of next steps in the relationship." The story also flagged that "it wasn't immediately clear whether Tai would speak to Chinese Vice Premier Liu He -- who served as the USTR counterpart during the tenure of former trade chief Robert Lighthizer -- or a different senior official."