US and China announce tariff rollback deal

Washington agrees to suspend tariffs on $160b in Chinese goods due to go into effect on Dec 15

BEIJING/ WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Chinese officials said Friday that they have agreed to a "phase one" trade deal that included cutting US tariffs on Chinese goods.

But they offered no specific details on the amount of US agricultural goods Beijing had agreed to buy, a key sticking point of the lengthy deal negotiations.

"We have agreed to a very large Phase One deal with China," Trump said on Twitter Friday morning.

Officials in China have "agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of agricultural product, energy, and manufactured goods, plus much more", he said. The US has agreed to suspend tariffs on $160 billion in Chinese goods due to go into effect on December 15, Trump said, and cut existing tariffs to 7.5%.

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The agreement covers intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, currency, and foreign exchange, the United States Trade Representative said in a statement Friday morning.

The United States will maintain 25% tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports, but cut tariffs in half to 7.5% on $120 billion in imports, said the USTR.

In a press conference on Friday night in Beijing, Chinese officials said the two countries have achieved major progress in their phase one trade negotiations and agreed on the text of a phase one deal.

China will import more US wheat and corn after the deal, China's vice agricultural minister said.

The US has been pushing for Beijing to commit to buying $50 billion 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.

The deal will provide more protection for foreign companies in China, and Chinese companies in the United States, Chinese officials said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2019.

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