Lead negotiators for China and the United States were scheduled to meet in Shanghai July 30-31 for the next round of trade talks, Reuters reported last week. It would mark the first face-to-face meeting between U.S. and Chinese trade teams since presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed at the G20 summit in Japan to revive talks to end their year-long trade war.

China had agreed to make unspecified purchases of U.S. farm goods, according to the White House. The timing of the next round of talks came after Chinese...