The Trump administration on Friday criticized the World Trade Organization’s compensation structure for appellate body members, laying out a case for potentially blocking the institution’s budget and effectively halting its work starting next year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said his nation wants to work toward a phase one trade agreement with the U.S. on the “basis of mutual respect and equality,” his first comments on a partial deal that he could potentially sign with U.S. President Donald Trump.

When Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates tried to build an experimental nuclear reactor in China, his plan was thwarted by U.S. foreign investment restrictions. At Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum this week, Gates described the scuttled reactor project as “a five-year setback for technology.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made progress on but failed to seal a deal Thursday on the stalled U.S. Mexico Canada free trade agreement, increasing the likelihood the deal won’t get a vote in Congress this year.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is meeting Thursday with President Donald Trump’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer, but she said even if they reach deal on the stalled U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, there might not be time to vote this year.

Three Chinese companies are challenging U.S. duty levels on certain imports of crawfish meat, according to filings at the U.S. Court of International Trade.