President Donald Trump wrote in a post on Twitter on Dec. 29 that “big progress” is being made with Chinese leader Xi Jinping toward a trade deal that may stave off further escalation of a yearlong trade war.
Trump posted at about 11 a.m. local time that he had just finished a “long and very good call” with Xi to discuss a possible deal to address the continuing trade differences between the United States and China.
“If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute,” Trump said.
The White House announced shortly after the talks that both sides would “immediately begin negotiations on structural changes” that Washington has been demanding for more than a decade. It said the structural reforms include ending China’s unfair trade policies and practices with respect to “forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions, and cyber theft, services, and agriculture.”
Also in Argentina, the United States and China reached a 90-day agreement to postpone more tariff hikes and allow for further negotiations, after Xi agreed to purchase “a very substantial amount” of American goods, including in the agricultural, energy, and industrial sectors, to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China.
In return, Trump agreed to postpone the planned step-up in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent that would have commenced on Jan. 1. Trump promised that tariffs would remain at 10 percent through the 90-day negotiation period.
“Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days,” the White House said. If China and the United States fail to reach an agreement by March 1, the United States will increase its tariffs to 25 percent.
The two nations have been engaged in a tariff trade war for much of 2018, after the Trump administration first imposed nearly $250 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods to force Beijing to end its unfair practices.
Trump has long complained about China’s unfair trade practices and blamed previous U.S. leaders for failing to address the matter, which he has said has not only cost U.S. jobs but has threatened national security. For decades, Beijing has paid little more than lip-service to the commitments it made when joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), leading the Trump administration to change tactics and take a tougher stance on China’s long-running protectionist and trade-distorting policies.
Just days after the trade truce was brokered, Trump warned in a Dec. 4 tweet that both national leaders “want this deal to happen,” but that if a deal doesn’t happen, “I am a tariff man.”
China’s state media also reported Xi and Trump spoke Dec. 29, and quoted Xi as saying that teams from both countries have been working to implement a consensus reached with Trump.
