Hope for US trade visit to China: A delay in harmful tariffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin leads a delegation of American officials to Beijing next week, few analysts expect them to defuse a smoldering trade conflict with China. Rather, the likeliest outcome is a more modest one:

That the talks could produce a delay in the series of damaging import tariffs the two nations have threatened to impose on each other's goods.

The underlying frictions that have flared between the world's two largest economies will take much longer to resolve, government officials and China experts say.

At stake are more than the American manufacturing jobs President Donald Trump vows to protect at rallies around the country.