WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer greeted Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on the steps of the USTR office on Thursday for the highest-level trade talks between the two countries since late July.

The world’s two largest economies are seeking a way out of a 15-month trade war, but the atmosphere surrounding the talks has been sour since Monday, when the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted 28 Chinese firms citing human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang province.