Negotiations on a trade deal between the United States and China are progressing well, said the two countries signaling light at the end of tunnel of a 16 month old acrimonious trade war between the two countries. According to US officials, trade deal that will end the trade war which has roiled global financial markets, slowed down global trade and raised concerns of another global recession could be signed as early as this month.
A “consensus on principles” has been reached by the two largest economies of the world during a telephone call between their main trade negotiators which was “serious and constructive”, said the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
A deal between the two countries will hopefully be signed between the United States president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a venue in the US, Trump said, and added that he hoped it would be in the farming state of Iowa which is shaping up to be a very crucial state for Trump during the 2020 presidential elections.
“China wants to make the deal very much,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday evening. “I don’t like to talk about deals until they happen, but we’re making a lot of progress.”
Frantic efforts are being made by US and Chinese negotiators to finalize the text of the so called ‘phase one’ of the trade agreement so that Trump and Xi are able to sign the deal this month. However that deal has been clouded by US demands of a specific time table from China about its pledge to import more of American agricultural and farm products.
One of the critical dates before which both the countries reportedly want to get an initial deal signed is December 15 when new additional tariffs by the US on import of Chinese products including laptops, toys and electronics is set to come into effect. Reports have claimed that both the countries realize that it is in their interest that a deal is signed before that data so that those sanctions can be avoided.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that “enormous progress” toward finalizing the phase one agreement has been made by US and Chinese negotiators even though the text id not 100% complete till date.
There was forward movement on a range of issues during a telephonic conversation between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin with China’s Vice Premier Liu He. The USTR said in a statement that the two parties are striving to resolve outstanding issues.
The talks are set to continue at the deputy level.
“The deal is not completed, but we made enormous progress. We’re beyond where we were last spring, so I’m going to play that from the optimistic side,” Kudlow told reporters.
But for now, the planned December 15 tariffs would remain on the table, Kudlow said. He said that Trump would be taking the final call on whether to cancel them.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
A “consensus on principles” has been reached by the two largest economies of the world during a telephone call between their main trade negotiators which was “serious and constructive”, said the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
A deal between the two countries will hopefully be signed between the United States president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a venue in the US, Trump said, and added that he hoped it would be in the farming state of Iowa which is shaping up to be a very crucial state for Trump during the 2020 presidential elections.
“China wants to make the deal very much,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday evening. “I don’t like to talk about deals until they happen, but we’re making a lot of progress.”
Frantic efforts are being made by US and Chinese negotiators to finalize the text of the so called ‘phase one’ of the trade agreement so that Trump and Xi are able to sign the deal this month. However that deal has been clouded by US demands of a specific time table from China about its pledge to import more of American agricultural and farm products.
One of the critical dates before which both the countries reportedly want to get an initial deal signed is December 15 when new additional tariffs by the US on import of Chinese products including laptops, toys and electronics is set to come into effect. Reports have claimed that both the countries realize that it is in their interest that a deal is signed before that data so that those sanctions can be avoided.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that “enormous progress” toward finalizing the phase one agreement has been made by US and Chinese negotiators even though the text id not 100% complete till date.
There was forward movement on a range of issues during a telephonic conversation between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin with China’s Vice Premier Liu He. The USTR said in a statement that the two parties are striving to resolve outstanding issues.
The talks are set to continue at the deputy level.
“The deal is not completed, but we made enormous progress. We’re beyond where we were last spring, so I’m going to play that from the optimistic side,” Kudlow told reporters.
But for now, the planned December 15 tariffs would remain on the table, Kudlow said. He said that Trump would be taking the final call on whether to cancel them.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
