US and China are about to conclude trade truce


02/25/2019

The US and China seem ready to conclude an armistice in the trade war that has continued since the middle of last year. US President Donald Trump announced that he would delay introduction of new duties on goods from China scheduled for March 1 and hold a meeting with PRC Chairman Xi Jinping. Thus, he hopes to conclude a trade agreement with the Chinese partner.



Shealah Craighead via flickr
US President Donald Trump said on his Twitter account that the US will postpone the introduction of new trade duties on Chinese goods. According to him, both sides have achieved “substantial progress” in trade negotiations. Also, Mr. Trump announced that he plans to meet with China's President Xi Jinping to sign a new trade agreement.

At the end of September 2018, Washington approved a ten percent duty on the import of Chinese goods with a “value” of about $ 200 billion. China responded by declaring a duty of $ 60 billion, bringing the total supplies that are subject to restrictions to $ 360 billion (of which $ 250 billion are for goods from China).

At the same time, the White House earlier announced its readiness to raise the rates on duties on imports of $ 200 billion to 25%, as well as to cover the remaining volume of imports with tariffs. After several months of "hostilities" in December 2018, a breakthrough occurred. Both countries agreed to suspend the new trade tariffs. So, after a personal meeting of Donald Trump and PRC Chairman Xi Jinping at the G-20 in early December, the deadline for such actions was postponed to March 2. By this time, the parties must agree on a list of concessions. Later, Mr. Trump said that this period may be slightly postponed, if negotiations are productive.

Xinhua, the official China news agency, notes “significant progress” on specific issues such as technology transfer, intellectual property protection, and agriculture. The agency’s sources interpreted Mr. Trump’s decision as a sign that “both sides have made progress in resolving their destructive trade war.”

source: xinhuanet.com