U.S. and Chinese officials to resume talks to ease trade war on Sunday

Top U.S. and Chinese officials wrapped up the first day of talks in Switzerland on Saturday aimed at defusing a trade war that threatens to hammer the global economy and planned to resume negotiations on Sunday, a source close to the discussions said. Washington is seeking to reduce its $295 billion goods trade deficit with Beijing and persuade China to renounce what the United States says is a mercantilist economic model and contribute more to global consumption, a shift that would require politically sensitive domestic reforms. China's official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary on Saturday that the United States' "reckless abuse of tariffs" had destabilized the global economic order, but added that the negotiations represented "a positive and necessary step to resolve disagreements and avert further escalation."