U.S. Maintains Hard Line as Details Emerge in Trade Truce With China

Lighthizer holds to 90-day deadline as Beijing pledges to announce large purchases, but talks could run aground after the arrest of a senior Huawei executive

The meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Argentina was a success, according to both governments: China pledged to open its market and Washington agreed to postpone raising tariffs. But can China deliver on its promises? Screenshot: CCTV

Lingling Wei in Beijing and

Bob Davis in Washington

Updated Dec. 9, 2018 4:03 p.m. ET

The Trump administration’s point man on U.S.-China trade negotiations said the U.S. would hold fast to its 90-day deadline for the conclusion of a lasting agreement, adding that the U.S. would impose punishing tariffs on Chinese imports if none is reached.

“If there’s a deal to be done, we’ll make it. The president wants us to make a deal,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on CBS on Sunday. “It has to be verifiable, it has to be monitored, it can’t be just vague promises like we’ve seen over the last 25 years.…As...