The two sides vow not to launch a trade war, with Beijing promising 'significantly increase' its purchase of American goods and services to reduce massive trade deficit with Washington
US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping. Pic/AFP
Averting a trade war, China and the US yesterday struck a deal under which Beijing will "significantly increase" its purchases of American goods and services to reduce the whopping $375 billion trade deficit with Washington.
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After a lengthy second round of talks in Washington, the two sides issued a joint statement early yesterday vowing not to launch a trade war against each other. "There was a consensus on taking effective measures to substantially reduce the US trade deficit in goods with China," the joint statement said. "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," it added. This will help support growth and employment in the United States.
US President Donald Trump has threatened punitive measures against Chinese goods if Beijing does not cut down the trade deficit by $100 billion in a month and $200 billion by 2020. US says it has $375 billion trade deficit in $636 billion total trade last year. China says the trade deficit is around $200 billion. China too threatened a tit-for-tat retaliation but blinked in the end with a categorical undertaking to import more goods from US.
The two sides agreed on meaningful increases in US agriculture and energy exports. US will send a team to China to work out the details, said the joint statement at the conclusion of the trade delegation level talks between the two countries.
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