A new round of trade talks between the U.S. and China begins in Beijing this week, with both sides hoping to reach a trade deal by the end of this month. <br />For more on this and other news around the world let's turn to our Ro Aram…<br />Aram… what can we expect?<br /><br />Well Mark… Working-level talks will kick off later today.<br />Higher principal-level talks will take place Thursday and Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.<br />Investors will be looking to see if both sides can hammer out a trade deal before a March 1st deadline to avert higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.<br />However, prospects are not looking good.<br />Lighthizer said recently that it's not certain a pact could be reached.<br />President Trump has also said he's unlikely to meet President Xi Jinping before the deadline, dampening hopes of a speedy resolution to their trade war.<br />If a deal is not reached by the beginning of next month then Washington is set to more than double tariffs on 200 billion dollars-worth of Chinese imports.<br />U.S. officials have said March 1st is a hard deadline, but Trump has suggested a possible extension if progress was being made.<br />There are still many sticking points to iron out during this week's talks.<br />U.S. negotiators will likely continue to urge China to make structural reforms and end what the U.S. claims to be unfair trade practices.<br />These include accusations of intellectual property theft and forcing American companies to share their technology with Chinese firms.<br />Beijing denies it engages in such practices. <br />
