The U.S. and China have reached an agreement on trade, defusing rising trade war tensions, White House officials announced Saturday.
Following two days of bilateral consultations on trade, representatives from Washington and Beijing reached a consensus on trade, with the latter agreeing to take “effective measures to substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China,” a joint statement explained.
An increase in exports to China would “meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development,” as well as “help support growth and employment in the United States,” according to . . . . . .
the statement.
Talks in Washington have produced at least a tentative solution, a ceasefire in the trade war.
“Both sides agreed to continue to engage at high levels on these issues and to seek to resolve their economic and trade concerns in a proactive manner,” Saturday’s statement read.
And from the New York Times, we have this summer statement:
WASHINGTON —
China will increase its purchase of American goods and services in order
to reduce the multibillion-dollar trade imbalance with the United
States, the two countries said in a joint statement Saturday.
How much the imbalance will be reduced remains to be seen.
Trump administration officials had said during negotiations this week that China was prepared to make up to $200 billion in additional purchases. Notably absent from Saturday’s announcement were any dollar figures — or a sense of the scale of the agreed-upon increases.
The
White House said that China had committed to buying more agriculture
and energy exports, but noted that American officials would at some
point go to China to work out the details of their agreement.
“To
meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need
for high-quality economic development, China will significantly increase
purchases of United States goods and services,” said the statement.
“This will help support growth and employment in the United States.”
