Two separate Chinese sources told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that the talks hit a snag because Washington “kept adding new demands in the late stages of the negotiations”. According to them, “some of these would directly affect China’s political and social stability”. Beijing was particularly angered by the additional tariffs and what it saw as the U.S.’ attempt to shift the blame to China.

“The real reason is that the U.S. side keeps changing their demands,” one source said. “There were so many changes that we can’t [keep giving in]. And then they turned around and accused us of backtracking.”

He also said some of the key areas that the two sides could not agree on.

For instance, the U.S. demanded China “completely open its internet” and relax its controls that require foreign cloud computing companies to store all their data in China.

“China can only agree to selectively open some areas. A completely open internet is impossible,” the source said.