U.S. will phase out tariffs on China as part of Phase 1 deal, Beijing officials say
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese officials said Friday that they have agreed to the first phase of a trade deal that included cutting U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump said on Twitter that China and the U.S have agreed to a very large part of what he called a «Phase One» deal.
We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China. They have agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more. The 25% Tariffs will remain as is, with 7 1/2% put on much of the remainder….
—@realDonaldTrump
The U.S. will modify its tariffs on Chinese goods in a «significant way,» while China would buy substantially more U.S. goods and services, the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office said on Friday.
Under the agreement, Washington will maintain 25 per cent tariffs on about $250 billion US of Chinese imports, and reduce to around 7.5 per cent tariffs imposed on $120 billion of other Chinese imports, USTR said in a statement.
The trade agreement required structural reforms to China’s economic and trade regime in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, currency and foreign exchange. The deal also includes a «strong dispute resolution system,» USTR said. It offered no further details on any of the reforms or a timeline for their implementation.
The two countries have achieved major progress in their trade negotiations, agreeing on the text of that part of the deal, Beijing officials said.
The deal would also provide more protection for foreign companies in China, and Chinese companies in the U.S., Chinese officials said.
China will also import more U.S. wheat and corn after the deal, China’s vice agricultural minister said.
However, they offered no specific details on the amount of U.S. agricultural goods Beijing had agreed to buy, a key sticking point of the lengthy deal negotiations.
The U.S. has been pushing for Beijing to commit to buy $50 billion US in agricultural products in 2020, a figure that Chinese officials have previously balked at.
Asked specifically about the $50 billion figure, officials in Beijing said details on value will be disclosed later.
