Trade War Breakthrough: U.S. and China Reach Phase-One Deal
China and the US have made a breakthrough in trade negotiations, with a consensus agreement reached for a phase-one deal that will halt further tariff increases and lower some already in place, Vice-Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen announced on Friday.
Speaking in a late-night press conference in Beijing, Wang said the agreement covered a wide range of issues, including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, purchase of agricultural products and expanding trade.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative confirmed the agreement on Friday, saying in a statement: “The United States and China have reached an historic and enforceable agreement on a Phase One trade deal that requires structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.”
Both countries will proceed to detailed translations and legal review of the text and discuss arrangements for signing the agreement. US President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said that process should take “inside of a few weeks”, and that the final signing would be between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.
“The deal can help expanding economic and trade cooperation between the two nations and effectively manage the trade disputes,” Wang said. (Read more from “Trade War Breakthrough: U.S. and China Reach Phase-One Deal” HERE)
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