• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
No Result
View All Result
1
Home World

China, US agree tariff rollback if phase one trade deal is completed

8 November 2019, 6:16 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Chinese and U.S. flags flutter near The Bund, before U.S. trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China.

A source previously told Reuters that Chinese negotiators wanted the United States to drop 15% tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese goods that took effect on September 1.

Chinese and U.S. flags flutter near The Bund, before U.S. trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China.

Image: Reuters

A source previously told Reuters that Chinese negotiators wanted the United States to drop 15% tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese goods that took effect on September 1.

China and the United States have agreed to roll back tariffs on each other’s’ goods in a “phase one” trade deal if it is completed, officials from both sides said on Thursday, sparking division among some advisers to President Donald Trump.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry, without laying out a timetable, said the two countries had agreed to cancel the tariffs in phases.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the rollback would be part of the first phase of a trade agreement that is still being put to paper for Trump and President Xi Jinping to sign.

White House spokesperson Stephanie Grisham told Fox News Channel the United States is “very, very optimistic” about completing a deal that would defuse a 16-month trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

“I cannot get ahead of the talks with China, but we are very, very optimistic that we will reach a deal soon,” she said.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, however, said in an interview with Fox Business Network: “There is no agreement at this time to remove any of the existing tariffs as a condition of the phase one deal.”

“They’re just negotiating in public, trying to push this in a direction,” Navarro said of reports he said were put out by “Chinese propaganda press.”

Experts warn the pact could still fall apart. US officials said a lot of work remained to be done when Trump announced the outlines of an interim deal last month.

Trump has used tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods as his primary weapon in the protracted trade war. The prospect of lifting them, even in phases, has drawn fierce opposition from advisers in and outside of the White House who remain wary of giving up a key aspect of US leverage.

US stocks pared gains after Reuters reported that the plan faced internal opposition.

“There is no specific agreement for a phased rollback of the tariffs,” said Michael Pillsbury, an outside adviser to Trump.

“The American side has been ambiguous when and which tariffs will be lifted. The Chinese have some wishful thinking and are trying to soothe their domestic hardliners that the tariffs will someday come off.”

If an interim deal is finished and signed, it is widely expected to include a US pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for December 15 on about $156 billion worth of Chinese imports, including cell phones, laptop computers and toys.

Tariff cancellation was an important condition for any agreement, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said, adding that both must simultaneously cancel some tariffs on each other’s goods to reach the phase one pact.

“Both sides have agreed to cancel additional tariffs in different phases, as both sides make progress in their negotiations,” Gao told a regular briefing.

A spokesman for the US Treasury department declined to comment and the US Trade Representative’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to tie any tariff rollbacks to Beijing’s compliance with specific elements of the agreement.

“The tariffs should be phased out piece by piece as China complies,” one congressional source said.

TRUMP-XI MEETING

In what could be another gesture to boost optimism, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported late on Thursday that the Chinese customs and Ministry of Agriculture are considering removing restrictions on US poultry imports.

China has banned all US poultry and eggs since January 2015 due to an avian influenza outbreak.

The optimism over a phase one trade deal boosted stocks globally; bond yields shuffled higher.

A source previously told Reuters that Chinese negotiators wanted the United States to drop 15% tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese goods that took effect on September 1.

They also sought relief from earlier 25% tariffs on about $250 billion of imports, ranging from machinery and semiconductors to furniture.

A person familiar with China’s negotiating position said it was pressing Washington to “remove all tariffs as soon as possible”.

A deal may be signed before the end of the year by Trump and Xi at a yet-to-be determined location.

Dozens of venues have been suggested for a meeting, which had originally been set to take place on the sidelines of a now-cancelled mid-November summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Chile, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters on Wednesday.

One possible location was London, where the leaders could meet after a NATO summit that Trump is due to attend on December 3-4, the official said.

Gao declined to say when and where such a meeting could be held.

Since Trump took office in 2017, his administration has been pressing China to curb massive subsidies to state-owned firms and end the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese firms as a price of doing business in China.

The president’s tough stance on China has earned him praise from his political base, and he may be reluctant to appear conciliatory on the issue going into his 2020 re-election campaign. But Trump has also sought to portray stock market gains as a reflection of his stewardship of the economy, and the market has reacted positively to any hints of an end to the two countries’ trade dispute.

Share article
Tags: United StatesChinaDonald TrumpTrade deal
Previous Post

Flag to fly half-mast ahead of Nkabinde-Khawe’s funeral

Next Post

Springboks victory tour goes to Durban

Related Posts

Residents sit inside a bus in central Stepanakert before leaving Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, September 25, 2023.

Ethnic Armenians flee Karabakh after breakaway region’s defeat

25 September 2023, 9:36 PM
Strike signs await striking SAG-AFTRA actors and Writers Guild of America (WGA) outside Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

Big media rallies on signs of end to Hollywood writers’ strike

25 September 2023, 4:30 PM
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III [L] with his Kenyan counterpart Aden Duale [R].

US to support Kenyan mission to restore security in Haiti

25 September 2023, 3:31 PM
Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 28, 2023.

Russia’s air defence systems down four Ukraine-drones over Black Sea, Crimea

25 September 2023, 8:29 AM
US President Joe Biden.

Biden to host Pacific island leaders in US charm offensive vs China

24 September 2023, 3:43 PM
File Image: US President Joe Biden speaks during a luncheon with Vietnam's President Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi, Vietnam, September 11, 2023.

Biden aides in talks with Vietnam for arms deal that could irk China

24 September 2023, 8:20 AM
Next Post
The Springboks kick-started their tour on Friday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria before heading to the Johannesburg CBD and Soweto.

Springboks victory tour goes to Durban

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Concern over exclusion of foreign nationals from Road Accident Fund
  • Cashless taxi service launched in Cape Town
  • ANC building up in flames in Port St Johns
  • Visitors planning to visit the Overberg region urged to postpone their trips
  • Western Cape on high alert following severe storm warning
  • High waves and rough water conditions force beach closures in the Western Cape
  • Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to rest in the town he built and nurtured
  • NSPCA files criminal case against Julius Malema for alleged animal cruelty
  • Snow, heavy rainfall expected in parts of KZN: SAWS
  • Cold-front sweeps across SA bringing snow and chilly temperatures
  • Golden Arrow bus overturns as heavy rains continue in Cape Town
  • Three dead, scores injured in Cape Town bus accident amidst severe weather
  • Significant rainfall helps dam levels in the Nelson Mandela Bay’s drought-stricken areas
  • Severe weather plunges Western Cape into chaos
  • Mbeki warns against private sector replacing government services

LATEST

Activist and author Zoleka Mandela.
  • South Africa

Zoleka’s passing on eve of Winnie Mandela’s birthday


A view of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tshwane during an oversight visit by  President Cyril Ramaphosa in this image captured on 08 June 2023.
  • South Africa

SIU to probe multi-million rand Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works tender


Zoleka Mandela's book 'When Hope Whispers' pictured during her book launch in this image captured on her Instagram page.
  • South Africa

South Africans take to social media to convey condolences to the Mandela family


A big tree uprooted by strong damaging winds, next to the bus terminus and fell at the Cape Town Bus station in the CB near the Golden Acre, captured on 25 September 2023.
  • South Africa

Several roads closed in the Western Cape amid flooding


[File Image]: William Nicol Drive, during the start of the COVID-19 lockdown.
  • South Africa

Expected road closures ahead of William Nicol Drive renaming ceremony


Zoleka Mandela
  • South Africa

Zoleka Mandela passes away


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2023

Previous Flag to fly half-mast ahead of Nkabinde-Khawe’s funeral
Next Springboks victory tour goes to Durban