PHOTO: REUTERS
If the two sides reach a preliminary agreement, the degree of tariff removals will fully reflect the importance of the agreement, ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a weekly briefing.
"The importance of the deal should be measured by both parties," Gao said, adding that the two countries' negotiating teams are holding in-depth consultations on the topic.
Last week, Gao said at a regular briefing that China and the US have agreed to lift additional tariffs on each other's goods step by step if a trade deal is struck. The phase-one deal was outlined by both the negotiating teams in early October.
‘China-US trade war to ease but conflicts will persist’
He did not specifically respond to comments from US President Donald Trump on Friday where the president had said that he had not agreed to remove additional tariffs on Chinese products.
Gao said the trade conflict began because of additional tariffs so a truce should be reached through tariff elimination and "this is an important condition for the two sides to reach an agreement".
The General Administration of Customs said on Thursday it was lifting restrictions on the import of poultry from the US, effective immediately.
The proposal to lift the nearly five-year ban on US poultry imports was announced by the Ministry of Commerce in late October and publication on the customs administration website, which clears imports of all US poultry products, is a formal recognition of the reopening of the trade.
Improving access for US foodstuffs to the Chinese market has been a critical part of the Sino-US trade talks. China had banned all US poultry and eggs since January 2015 due to an avian flu outbreak.
Sang Baichuan, Director of the Institute of International Business at the University of International Business and Economics, said the misuse of tariffs would lead to a wait-and-see attitude towards cooperation between companies from both countries. The cancellation of additional tariffs will benefit China, the US and the rest of the world, Sang said.
US, China say they are 'close to finalising' part of a Phase One trade deal
Matthew Margulies, Vice-President of China Operations at the US-China Business Council, said that despite recent frictions, US companies take a long-term view of the relationship and they generally have a positive opinion about opportunities in China.
This article originally appeared on the China Economic Net
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2019.
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